Dynamic table name variable in stored procedure - mysql

Question

I want to create a function that will create a unique random id. The parameters will simply be min (the minimum number), max (the maximum number), and tablename (the name of the table to check to see if the id produced by the rand() function already exists).
I have discovered through other posts that you can't pass table names into functions, because functions can't execute dynamic SQL, but you can pass them into stored procedures. I have found numerous examples on StackOverflow of how to pass table names into stored procedures, and they all boil down to using prepared statements.
I have created a stored procedure as shown below:
DELIMITER $$
CREATE DEFINER=`user`#`localhost` PROCEDURE `rand_id`(IN `min` INT, IN `max` INT, IN `tablename` VARCHAR(20) CHARSET utf8, OUT `uid` INT)
BEGIN
DECLARE count_id int;
SET count_id = 1;
SET #s = CONCAT('COUNT(`id`) INTO count_id FROM `', tablename, '` WHERE `id` = ', uid);
WHILE count_id > 0 DO
SET uid = FLOOR(rand() * max + min);
PREPARE stmt from #s;
EXECUTE stmt;
DEALLOCATE PREPARE stmt;
END WHILE;
END$$
DELIMITER ;
Whenever I run the following code:
CALL rand_id(1000000000, 9999999999, 'test', #id);
SELECT #id;
I get this error:
#1064 - You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near 'NULL' at line 1
I'm at a loss for what's wrong. I saw somewhere that you can't use user variables inside a stored procedure, but that seems to be incorrect because there are a lot of examples on StackOverflow where the correct solutions do just that.
Sorry for my low level of MySQL understanding. I'm sure my code is fraught with syntax errors and poor design. I appreciate any help I can get. I researched this for quite a while and tried many things but to no avail. The above portion of code is the closest I've been able to get, and yields the least errors, but it's still not working.
Thank you.
EDIT: As per the second example in #Barmar's answer, I changed my code to look like this:
BEGIN
DECLARE count_id int;
SET count_id = 1;
SET #s = CONCAT('SELECT COUNT(`id`) INTO count_id FROM `', tablename, '` WHERE `id` = ?');
PREPARE stmt from #s;
WHILE count_id > 0 DO
SET #uid = FLOOR(rand() * max + min);
EXECUTE stmt USING #uid;
END WHILE;
DEALLOCATE PREPARE stmt;
SET uid = #uid;
END
It seems to have fixed my initial problem but now I get this error:
#1327 - Undeclared variable: count_id
EDIT: Here is my code changed to fit #slaakso's answer, and add in what #Barmar said about using #count_id:
DELIMITER $$
CREATE DEFINER=`mjrinker`#`localhost` PROCEDURE `rand_id`(IN `min` BIGINT, IN `max` BIGINT, IN `tablename` VARCHAR(128) CHARSET utf8, OUT `uid` BIGINT)
BEGIN
SET #count_id = 1;
SET uid = 0;
SET #s = CONCAT('SELECT COUNT(`id`) INTO #count_id FROM `', tablename, '` WHERE `id` = ?');
PREPARE stmt from #s;
WHILE #count_id > 0 DO
SET #uid = FLOOR(rand() * max + min);
EXECUTE stmt USING #uid;
END WHILE;
DEALLOCATE PREPARE stmt;
SET uid = #uid;
END$$
DELIMITER ;

Answer 1

You need to assign #s after you assign the uid variable.
You're also missing the SELECT keyword in your query.
SET #count_id = 1
WHILE #count_id > 0 DO
SET uid = FLOOR(rand() * max + min);
SET #s = CONCAT('SELECT COUNT(`id`) INTO #count_id FROM `', tablename, '` WHERE `id` = ', uid);
PREPARE stmt from #s;
EXECUTE stmt;
DEALLOCATE PREPARE stmt;
END WHILE;
But you should actually just prepare the statement once, using a placeholder, which you fill in when using EXECUTE.
SET #count_id = 1
SET #s = CONCAT('SELECT COUNT(`id`) INTO #count_id FROM `', tablename, '` WHERE `id` = ?');
PREPARE stmt from #s;
WHILE #count_id > 0 DO
SET #uid = FLOOR(rand() * max + min);
EXECUTE stmt USING #uid;
END WHILE;
DEALLOCATE PREPARE stmt;
SET uid = #uid;
Note that the parameters to EXECUTE have to be user variables, that's why I changed uid to #uid there. Then we set the output parameter at the end of the loop.
You also need to use a user variable for INTO #count_id.

Answer 2

First of all it is highly unusual to use random numbers as ID's for tables. Mabye you should consider using AUTO_INCREMENT columns.
If you really want to use random numbers, couple of fixes for the code:
You should use value for uid for the first time you run the query
(without it it will be NULL, therefore the error).
You are missing SELECT in your dynamic query
The "INTO count_id" syntax will not work as count_id is not visible inside the dynamic SQL (use #var variable instead)
Your min and max values are declared as INT's, but your passed parameters exceed the INT range (-2147483648 - 2147483647)