Order by column if column exists else order by id

Asked Oct 29 '13 at 12:07

Active Oct 29 '13 at 12:07

Viewed 1,089 times

Hello is it possible to make an ordered select statement in MYSQL where the user will select the column name to be ordered by. I know that I can make a list of predefined choices for the user but the user has the option to create his own columns for each table.

At first I was thinking to check if the column is inside the results of a query like:

SELECT COLUMN_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA = 'my_database' AND TABLE_NAME = 'my_table';

SHOW COLUMNS FROM my_table;

but I'd like like a cleaner solution for this and I'm not so proficient with mysql. In other words:

SELECT * FROM 'users' WHERE users.id = 'user_id' ORDER BY 'column' IF EXISTS ELSE ORDER BY users.id

something like the above statement, if column doesnt exist order by id like the defulat order.

asked Oct 29 '13 at 12:07

0x_Anakin

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It's not possible unless you build the query in code and use `EXEC` in a stored procedure – Bohemian Oct 29 '13 at 12:20
I see, would this work if I select the column names and and try to match the column to order by, with the results of the column names subselect? – 0x_Anakin Oct 29 '13 at 12:28
Basically, I don't think it's a good idea. – Bohemian Oct 29 '13 at 12:41
"the user has the option to create his own columns for each table" ? Is this a good idea? – Strawberry Oct 29 '13 at 13:01
I'm validating the column creation but I cant see how to implement this, for now i'm doing 2 queries 1 to get the column names. – 0x_Anakin Oct 29 '13 at 13:20
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I hope this will help: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3550942/can-you-add-an-if-statement-in-order-by – alpdeniz Mar 04 '15 at 06:53

Order by column if column exists else order by id

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