How to Efficiently Verify Table Existence in MySQL Without Exceptions?

Efficiently Verifying Table Existence in MySQL without Exceptions

Checking if a table exists in MySQL can be a common task. While the "SHOW TABLES LIKE" query can provide this information, it can raise exceptions if the table is not found. For cleaner code and exception handling, an alternative approach is necessary.

One optimal solution is to query the "information_schema" database, which contains metadata about all database objects. This method utilizes a prepared statement to prevent SQL injection and enhance security:

$sql = "SELECT 1 FROM information_schema.tables WHERE table_schema = database() AND table_name = ?";
$stmt = $pdo->prepare($sql);
$stmt->execute([$tableName]);
$exists = (bool)$stmt->fetchColumn();

In this code:

• $sql constructs a MySQL query that selects a single row if the specified $tableName exists in the current database.
• $stmt prepares the statement for execution.
• $stmt->execute() executes the statement with the table name as a parameter.
• $stmt->fetchColumn() retrieves the first column of the result (if any), which will be 1 if the table exists and 0 otherwise.
• $exists is assigned a boolean value based on the retrieved value, representing whether the table exists.

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