MySQL: Query to return Primary Key fieldname?

[Joseph_Sliker]

Hi;

I am wondering if there is a simple way to construct a MySQL query that will return just the fieldname (as a string that I could then re-use as a variable value) of the Primary Key for a particular table.

I am trying to build a generic form that will allow users to pick particular rows from various tables for edit or delete purposes. The hard part is that each table in question has a different name for the Primary Key field.

Just on a whim I tried stuff like..

DESCRIBE SCHOOLS WHERE Key LIKE 'PRI'

and

SHOW INDEX FROM SCHOOLS WHERE Key_name like 'PRIMARY'

but those commands don't seem to like the "WHERE" clause.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Joe

[Joseph_Sliker]

Well I fingered it out myself.

Just in case there is someone else out there who needs a means of doing this, I believe the following may do the trick for you too.

//This query will return data in tabular-type form that has consistent field/column names.  For this purpose we are interested in the columns called "Field" and "Key".  The value in the "Key" column 'PRI' will allow us to find the name of the primary key field in the "Field" column.
$sql = "DESCRIBE $TABLENAME"; 

//Connecting, selecting database
$link = mysql_connect("$Host", "$User", "$Password") 
   or die("Could not connect : " . mysql_error());   

mysql_select_db("$DBName") or die("Could not select database"); 

//Performing SQL query
$result = mysql_query($sql) or die("Query failed: " . mysql_error()); 

while ($Row=mysql_fetch_array($result, MYSQL_ASSOC)) { 
  $lines[$Row['Key']] =$Row['Field'];
}

$PRIKEYID = $lines['PRI'];

I am not sure what will happen if you have a multiple-field primary key. But I get myself confused enough without using such things in my tables.
🆒