Invalid column name error when using QUOTENAME - sql

Question

I have several tables having the same structure. The tables are named by year that is 2001,2002 and so on. I am in need to search a column for a value in each table and get the count for each table.
I have created a stored procedure below but I keep getting an error
Invalid column 'lol'
This is the stored procedure used:
CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[CountSP]
#TableName NVARCHAR(128),
#SearchParam NVARCHAR(50),
#SearchInput NVARCHAR(200)
AS
BEGIN
SET NOCOUNT ON;
DECLARE #Sql NVARCHAR(MAX);
SET #Sql = N'SELECT COUNT('+QUOTENAME(#SearchParam)+') FROM ' + QUOTENAME(#TableName) +'WHERE'+QUOTENAME(#SearchParam)+'LIKE '+QUOTENAME(#SearchInput)+
+ N' SELECT * FROM '+QUOTENAME(#TableName)
EXECUTE sp_executesql #Sql
END
Executing it:
DECLARE #return_value INT
EXEC #return_value = [dbo].[CountSP]
#TableName = N'1999',
#SearchParam = N'USERDESC',
#SearchInput = N'lol'
SELECT 'Return Value' = #return_value

Answer 1

I don't know why you are using LIKE operator there while you don't use wildcards, also use SysName datatype directly for object names.
Create PROCEDURE [dbo].[CountSP]
(
#TableName SysName,
#SearchInput NVARCHAR(50),
#SearchParam SysName
)
AS
SET NOCOUNT ON;
DECLARE #SQL NVARCHAR(MAX) = N'SELECT COUNT(' +
QUOTENAME(#SearchParam) +
N') FROM ' +
QUOTENAME(#TableName) +
N' WHERE ' +
QUOTENAME(#SearchParam) +
N' = ' + --You can change it to LIKE if needed
QUOTENAME(#SearchInput, '''') +
N';';
-- There is no benifits of using LIKE operator there
EXEC sp_executesql #SQL;
Then you can call it as
EXEC [dbo].[CountSP] N'YourTableNameHere', N'SearchInput', N'ColumnName';

Answer 2

This is because it is currently translated to :
SELECT COUNT([USERDESC]) FROM [1999] WHERE [USERDESC] LIKE [lol]
this means that it is comparing the "USERDESC" column with the "lol" column but from what I am understanding lol isn't a column but a value? which means you should lose the QUOTENAME for that variable.
See the documentation here : https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/t-sql/functions/quotename-transact-sql?view=sql-server-2017

Answer 3

You need to pass your parameter #SearchInput as a parameter to sp_execute:
CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[CountSP] #TableName sysname, --This is effectively the same datatype (as sysname is a synonym for nvarchar(128))
#SearchParam sysname, --Have changed this one though
#SearchInput nvarchar(200)
AS
BEGIN
SET NOCOUNT ON;
DECLARE #Sql nvarchar(MAX);
SET #Sql = N'SELECT COUNT(' + QUOTENAME(#SearchParam) + N') FROM ' + QUOTENAME(#TableName) + N'WHERE' + QUOTENAME(#SearchParam) + N' LIKE #SearchInput;' + NCHAR(13) + NCHAR(10) +
N'SELECT * FROM ' + QUOTENAME(#TableName);
EXECUTE sp_executesql #SQL, N'#SearchInput nvarchar(200)', #SearchInput;
END;
QUOTENAME, by default, will quote a value in brackets ([]). It does accept a second parameter which can be used to define a different character (for example QUOTENAME(#Value,'()') will wrap the value in parentheses). For what you want though, you want to parametrise the value, not inject (a quoted) value.