MySQL table name as a user defined variable

[mrherman]

Is it allowed for a user-defined variable to represent a table name?  If so, could you give an example?  I'm just getting errors, and can find no specific mention of this anywhere.  The following gives an error:

 

SET @mytable := 'table1' ;
drop temporary table if exists temp_table ;
create temporary table temp_table 
SELECT mycolumn from @mytable ;

 

Thanks for any suggestions.

[PFMaBiSmAd]

No, from the mysql documentation -

They cannot be used directly in an SQL statement as an identifier or as part of an identifier, such as in contexts where a table or database name is expected, or as a reserved word such as SELECT.

[mrherman]

Well, that is not what I wanted to hear. 

 

Thank you very much!