SQL Replace Function for Magento Shop - sql

Question

I want to replace certain letters inside the product description of every product in my magento shop. There is a way to run a script via phpMyAdmin (SQL). There is a REPLACE function for that:
REPLACE( string1, string_to_replace, replacement_string )
But how would I do the rest of the code? How do I get access to the cells with the description in it?
Thanks in advance!
EDIT: More Detail:
I want to make a SQL Statement that loops through every product and change parts of the product description with the help of the REPLACE function.

Answer 1

You should avoid doing direct SQL on your Magento instance. If you want to update the product descriptions, you can use the catalog model for this - or even the export/import routine. Here's how to do it programmatically - create the below and put it in the root directory of your Magento website.
include_once "app/Mage.php";
Mage::init();
Mage::app()->setCurrentStore(Mage_Core_Model_App::ADMIN_STORE_ID);
$yourstring = 'The string you want to find';
$newstring = 'The string you want to replace it with';
$_productCollection = Mage::getModel('catalog/product')
->getCollection()
->addAttributeToSelect('*')
->load();
foreach($_productCollection as $_product) {
if (strpos($_product->getDescription(),$yourstring) !== false) {
$newdescription = str_replace($yourstring,$newstring,$_product->getDescription());
$_product->setDescription($newdescription);
$_product->save();
echo 'Updated product: '.$_product->getName().'<br />';
}
}