MySQL - Is it possible to use LIKE on all columns in a table?

Question

I\'m trying to make a simple search bar that searches through my database for certain words. It is possible to use the LIKE attribute without using WHERE? I want it to sear

Answer 1

You might want to look at the MATCH() function as well eg:

SELECT * FROM shoutbox 
WHERE MATCH(`name`, `foo`, `bar`) AGAINST ('$search')

You can also add boolean mode to this:

SELECT * FROM shoutbox 
WHERE MATCH(`name`, `foo`, `bar`) AGAINST ('$search') IN BOOLEAN MODE

You can also get the relevance scores and add FULLTEXT keys to speed up the queries.