Question

This query does what I need, return a list of data from a widget in several tables from a WordPress Multi Site database.

There must be an easier way to do this. I have 30 tables I need to include, how can I get some type of loop to just return option value from all wp_n_option tables?

SELECT option_value
FROM `wp_options`
WHERE option_name = 'widget_thin_search'
UNION
SELECT option_value
FROM `wp_3_options`
WHERE option_name = 'widget_thin_search'
UNION
SELECT option_value
FROM `wp_4_options`
WHERE option_name = 'widget_thins_search'
INTO OUTFILE '/tmp/result.csv'

Edit: As Brandon pointed out, if it was a static 30 tables, I could build the query. However, the tables will increase as time goes on.

Answer 1

You could create a table with one column containing table names. Then create a T-SQL proc to loop through those table names and construct a query string resembling what you have in your example. Then run that query string with the exec command.

Just note that UNION removes duplicates whereas UNION ALL does not. That may not be an issue for you but I just wanted to point it out.