Search for a value across every table in a database #3601

Problem

There is no way to ask which tables hold a given value, such as an email address, an order number or a UUID.

• Open Quickly matches object names only (features/open-quickly.mdx), and the MCP search_schema tool matches table and column names, not data (developers/mcp-tools.mdx:97).
• The filter bar works on one table at a time. Its Any Column default only preselects the first column (apple/TablePro/Core/Storage/FilterSettingsStorage.swift:30); it does not search every column.
• The only search over every column is Search All Columns in the Data Files window (features/data-files.mdx:48), which reads a file, not a database.

So tracing a value through a schema means writing one query per table by hand. In #95 a user asked for a search feature; their screenshot shows a per-column search form for one table. This issue covers the step past one table.

Proposed solution

• A Search Database command, from the Database menu and from the sidebar context menu on a database or schema.
• A sheet with the search text, a match mode (contains, exact, starts with), a case-sensitive option, and the scope: the whole database, chosen schemas, or chosen tables.
• Text columns are searched by default. Number, date and UUID columns join only when the text parses as that type. Binary and BLOB columns are skipped unless ticked.
• One read-only SELECT per table, with identifiers quoted and LIKE wildcards escaped for the engine, the value bound as a parameter where the driver allows, a row cap per table, and the connection's query timeout.
• Progress reads as tables done out of the total, and Cancel stops the run at the next table.
• Results grouped by table: the matching columns and the row count. Opening a result opens the table in a tab filtered to those rows.

Done when: a search over a database of 50 tables lists every table and column holding the value, can be cancelled midway, and each result opens the matching rows.

Alternatives considered

Write a SELECT ... WHERE col LIKE '%value%' for each table by hand, or dump the database and search the dump file.

Platform

macOS

Related database type

N/A / General