MSSQL SearchAllTables

Supports searching both column names, text and numbers values.
Optimized, roughly 4-5 times faster than earlier versions.

Install in database

IF OBJECT_ID ('dbo.SearchAllTables', 'P') IS NOT NULL
    DROP PROCEDURE dbo.SearchAllTables;
GO

CREATE PROC SearchAllTables
(
    @SearchStr nvarchar(100)
)
AS
BEGIN

-- Purpose: To search all columns of all tables and data for a given search string
-- Customized and modified: 2025-04-28, 2014-01-21
-- Tested on: SQL Server 2022, 2008 R2

    DECLARE @Results TABLE(ColumnName nvarchar(370), ColumnValue nvarchar(3630))

    SET NOCOUNT ON

    DECLARE @TableName nvarchar(256)
    DECLARE @ColumnName nvarchar(128)
    DECLARE @DataType nvarchar(128)

    DECLARE @SearchStr2 nvarchar(110)
    DECLARE @SearchDecimal decimal(38,19)
    DECLARE @Query nvarchar(4000)
    SET @SearchStr2 = QUOTENAME('%' + @SearchStr + '%', '''')
    SET @SearchDecimal = CASE WHEN ISNUMERIC(@SearchStr) = 1 THEN CONVERT(decimal(38,19), @SearchStr) ELSE NULL END
    PRINT '@SearchStr2: ' + @SearchStr2
    PRINT '@SearchDecimal: ' + CAST(@SearchDecimal AS nvarchar)

    SET @TableName = ''
    WHILE @TableName IS NOT NULL
        BEGIN
            SET @ColumnName = ''
            SET @TableName =
                    (
                        SELECT MIN(QUOTENAME(TABLE_SCHEMA) + '.' + QUOTENAME(TABLE_NAME))
                        FROM    INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES
                        WHERE       TABLE_TYPE = 'BASE TABLE'
                          AND QUOTENAME(TABLE_SCHEMA) + '.' + QUOTENAME(TABLE_NAME) > @TableName
                          AND OBJECTPROPERTY(
                                      OBJECT_ID(
                                              QUOTENAME(TABLE_SCHEMA) + '.' + QUOTENAME(TABLE_NAME)
                                      ), 'IsMSShipped'
                              ) = 0
                    )

            WHILE (@TableName IS NOT NULL) AND (@ColumnName IS NOT NULL)
                BEGIN
                    SET @ColumnName =
                            (
                                SELECT MIN(QUOTENAME(COLUMN_NAME))
                                           DATA_TYPE
                                FROM    INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
                                WHERE       TABLE_SCHEMA    = PARSENAME(@TableName, 2)
                                  AND TABLE_NAME  = PARSENAME(@TableName, 1)
                                  AND DATA_TYPE IN ('char', 'varchar', 'nchar', 'nvarchar',
                                                    'int', 'bigint', 'tinyint', 'numeric', 'decimal')
                                  AND QUOTENAME(COLUMN_NAME) > @ColumnName
                            )
                    SET @DataType =
                            (
                                SELECT DATA_TYPE
                                FROM    INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
                                WHERE       TABLE_SCHEMA    = PARSENAME(@TableName, 2)
                                  AND TABLE_NAME  = PARSENAME(@TableName, 1)
                                  AND QUOTENAME(COLUMN_NAME) = @ColumnName
                            )
                    PRINT @TableName + '.' + @ColumnName + ' (' + @DataType + ')'

                    IF @ColumnName IS NOT NULL
                        BEGIN
                            SET @Query = 'SELECT ''' + @TableName + '.' + @ColumnName + ''', ''COLUMN NAME MATCH'' ' +
                                        'WHERE ''' + @ColumnName + ''' LIKE ' + @SearchStr2
                            PRINT '    ' + @Query
                            INSERT INTO @Results
                                EXEC (@Query)

                            IF @DataType IN ('int', 'bigint', 'tinyint', 'numeric', 'decimal')
                                BEGIN
                                    IF @SearchDecimal IS NOT NULL
                                        BEGIN
                                            SET @Query = 'SELECT ''' + @TableName + '.' + @ColumnName + ''', LEFT(CAST(' + @ColumnName + ' AS nvarchar(110)), 3630) ' +
                                                         'FROM ' + @TableName + ' (NOLOCK) ' +
                                                         ' WHERE ' + @ColumnName + ' = ' + CAST(@SearchDecimal AS nvarchar)
                                            PRINT '    ' + @Query
                                            INSERT INTO @Results
                                                EXEC (@Query)
                                        END
                                END
                            ELSE
                                BEGIN
                                    SET @Query = 'SELECT ''' + @TableName + '.' + @ColumnName + ''', LEFT(' + @ColumnName + ', 3630) ' +
                                                 'FROM ' + @TableName + ' (NOLOCK) ' +
                                                 ' WHERE ' + @ColumnName + ' LIKE ' + @SearchStr2
                                    PRINT '    ' + @Query
                                    INSERT INTO @Results
                                        EXEC (@Query)
                                END
                        END
                END
        END

    SELECT ColumnName, ColumnValue FROM @Results
END
    

Usage

exec dbo.SearchAllTables 'mydata'