For instance, this does not work:
DELIMITER //
CREATE PROCEDURE countRows(tbl_name VARCHAR(40))
BEGIN
SELECT COUNT(*) as ct FROM tbl_name;
END //
DELIMITER ;
CALL countRows('my_table_name');
Produces:
ERROR 1146 (42S02): Table 'test.tbl_name' doesn't exist
However, this works as expected:
SELECT COUNT(*) as ct FROM my_table_name;
What syntax is required to use an argument as a table name in a select statement? Is this even possible?
Prepared statements are what you need.