How can I tell when a MySQL table was last updated?

Question

In the footer of my page, I would like to add something like \"last updated the xx/xx/200x\" with this date being the last time a certain mySQL table has been updated.

Answer 1

a) It will show you all tables and there last update dates

SHOW TABLE STATUS FROM db_name;

then, you can further ask for specific table:

SHOW TABLE STATUS FROM db_name like 'table_name';

b) As in above examples you cannot use sorting on 'Update_time' but using SELECT you can:

SELECT * FROM information_schema.tables WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA='db_name' ORDER BY UPDATE_TIME DESC;

to further ask about particular table:

SELECT * FROM information_schema.tables WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA='db_name' AND table_name='table_name' ORDER BY UPDATE_TIME DESC';