Searching multiple mysql tables, Joins?

[Guest]

I'm creating a mysql keyword search on my website and I know how to search a single mysql table, my problem is I need to search 15 different tables simultaneously, they also all have the same column names. I was told I have to you JOINS but i've never used them before. How is this done?

MY SQL SELECT:

SELECT *

FROM mytable1

WHERE keyword LIKE %colname% OR id  LIKE %colname%

[bregent]

You join tables when you want to view related data. Let's start at the beginning. Why do you have 15 tables with the same column names?

[Guest]

I have an image based site, and the images are separated into 15 different catigories depending on what type of image it is. The columns are id,image,name,keyword for each table

[bregent]

Why not just put all into a single table? What is the purpose for separating these into 15 tables?

[Guest]

Because for the type of site im doing the images must remain in there specific category, and can't be mixed into one table.

[bregent]

OK, that really doesn't answer my question. Just because they are in different categories is not a valid reason. Why can't they be mixed?

In any case, you could probably use a UNION query to solve the current problem, but I would have to know more about the complete query. You don't want to use a JOIN.