PHP Search All Database

A lightweight PHP script to search multiple MySQL tables/columns using a simple configuration.

Latest updates

• Resolved merge-style divergence and kept a single clean implementation.
• Kept the main optimization: one prepared query per table using OR-ed LIKE conditions.
• Added/kept relevant inline comments for setup, optimization, and output behavior.
• Added strict table/column identifier validation ([A-Za-z0-9_]) before query construction.
• Added optional $row_identifier_column support to print row id values when available.
• Kept HTML escaping for safer browser output.

Configure

In php-search-all-database.php, set:

$search_keyword = 'KEYWORD';

$table_associative_array = [
    'TABLE_NAME_1' => ['column_name_a', 'column_name_b'],
    'TABLE_NAME_2' => ['column_name_a', 'column_name_b'],
];

$row_identifier_column = 'id'; // Set null to hide row id

Also update DB credentials inside php_search_all_database():

$db_hostname = 'DATABASE HOST NAME';
$db_username = 'DATABASE USERNAME';
$db_password = 'DATABASE PASSWORD';
$db_database_name = 'DATABASE NAME';

Run

php_search_all_database($search_keyword, $table_associative_array, $row_identifier_column);

Notes

• Script remains schema-agnostic and uses SELECT *.
• Add indexes on searched columns for better performance on large datasets.
• mysqli_stmt_get_result() requires mysqlnd support.