Replace multiple characters using MySQL - mysql

Question

i am using this piece of code to replace characters in one column of my database.
UPDATE items
SET items = REPLACE(items, 'ḇ','ḇ')
But now I have a list with almost 500 characters to replace.
Just writing the whole sequence of lines in one single query will not work.
UPDATE items
SET items = REPLACE(items, 'ḇ','ḇ')
SET items = REPLACE(items, '&#x1E0x;','x')
SET items = REPLACE(items, '&#x1E0y;','y')
ETC.
Or I do not know how to write it.
Can anyone help me please?

Answer 1

Create a table that has the search string and the replace string as columns. Add all 500 rows of what needs to be replaced. Then write a stored procedure that will lookup the replace value from the lookup table and replace with the value. The lookup table can easily be loaded into MySql from an Excel or csv file.
Here's the pseudo code to show the looping and lookup. I know it won't compile, I'm a bit rusty on MySql syntax. I usually work in Oracle so the pseudocode syntax is more Oracle-esque.
DECLARE
v_old_string varchar;
v_new_string varchar;
BEGIN
FOR v IN (SELECT * FROM items) LOOP
SELECT old_string, new_string
INTO v_old_string, v_new_string
FROM my_lookup_table
WHERE old_string = v.thestringcolumn;
UPDATE items
SET itemcolumn = REPLACE(itemcolumn, v_old_string, v_new_string)
WHERE itemcolumn = v_old_string;
END LOOP;
END;