Updating multiple columns with wildcards?

[thomasw_lrd]

I am currently working on a very large project for my job.  We have four databases on one server that are identical except for the data contained within.  We have a web front end written in php. The menu for the front end is dynamically created by a table in the database.  I need to update this table (tbl_menu_items) on 3 of the databases with the data from our development database.  I know I can use Update to do this, but I was wondering if it was possible to use wildcards, rather than have to spell out each column in the database. I've been googling all day, and I know I can spell out each column that needs to be updated. 

Something similar to this below? 

UPDATE items,month SET items.*=month.*
WHERE items.id=month.id;

[requinix]

Strictly an update? Or could you drop all the data and insert everything anew?

[fenway]

That's just lazy -- that's what loops are for.

 

In the time you spent "googling all day", you could have been done 30 times.

[mikosiko]

^^+1  and if you have the privileges to query the INFORMATION_SCHEMA table a simple query could do the "hard" job to spell the columns for you... ready to just copy and paste..... 

[fenway]

DESCRIBE will work too, pre v5.

[thomasw_lrd]

All good ideas.  I actually wrote an update query that should have worked, but I don't have shell access, only mysqladmin (which sucks btw).  I'll probably just have to delete the data, and insert it again.  Not my preffered way to work, but sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do.

[Muddy_Funster]

All good ideas.  I actually wrote an update query that should have worked, but I don't have shell access, only mysqladmin (which sucks btw).  I'll probably just have to delete the data, and insert it again.  Not my preffered way to work, but sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do.

 

good lad It's attitudes like that that get people like me so many contracts