MySQL RENAME TABLE

Use RENAME TABLE to change a table name without copying its rows.

RENAME TABLE student TO student_new;

You can also rename a table with ALTER TABLE ... RENAME TO.

Rename more than one table atomically

RENAME TABLE
    student TO student_old,
    student_new TO student;

PHP PDO example

Table names are SQL identifiers, so they cannot be supplied through normal PDO value placeholders. If a table name comes from application logic, validate it against an allow-list before building the statement.

<?php
require 'config.php';

$allowedTables = ['student', 'student_new'];
$oldName = 'student';
$newName = 'student_new';

if (!in_array($oldName, $allowedTables, true) ||
    !in_array($newName, $allowedTables, true)) {
    throw new InvalidArgumentException('Invalid table name');
}

$sql = "RENAME TABLE `$oldName` TO `$newName`";
$dbo->exec($sql);
?>

Generate prefixed table names in PHP

The original tutorial also demonstrated renaming many tables by adding or replacing a prefix. Keep identifier handling separate from data-value placeholders and validate every generated identifier before executing it.

$oldName = $row[0];
$newName = 'plus2net_' . $row[0];

Remove a known prefix

$newName = substr($row[0], 9);

Replace a prefix

$newName = str_replace('plus2net_', 'mysite_', $row[0]);

Subhendu Mohapatra

Author & Instructor at plus2net

I write and maintain practical tutorials on Python, PHP, SQL, JavaScript, HTML, jQuery, and web development at plus2net. The tutorials focus on clear explanations, working examples, and code that readers can test and adapt while learning.

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