MySQL: Create multiple tables with one query

Question

Can you list multiple table names in a MySQL CREATE TABLE query?

CREATE TABLE table1, table2, table3 LIKE table_template;

If so, can you do it with the IF NOT EXISTS clause?

CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS table1, table2, table3 LIKE table_template;

---

I know you can do this with DROP TABLE:

DROP TABLE IF EXISTS table1, table2, table3;

The docs for DROP TABLE explicitly show that you enter a string of names:

DROP [TEMPORARY] TABLE [IF EXISTS]
    tbl_name [, tbl_name] ...
    [RESTRICT | CASCADE]

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The docs for CREATE TABLE don't show a table name string:

CREATE [TEMPORARY] TABLE [IF NOT EXISTS] tbl_name
    (create_definition,...)
    [table_options]
    [partition_options]

More Syntax Variations ...

Can anyone point me to a reference that states explicitly that multiple tables can or can't be created with one query?

I searched the CREATE TABLE Syntax doc for "string", "tbl_name", and "names", but no luck.

Answer 1

Looking at the docs, it looks like you can't create multiple tables with one CREATE. You can use IF NOT EXISTS and LIKE together, like this:

CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS table1 LIKE table_template;
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS table2 LIKE table_template;
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS table3 LIKE table_template;

Here's the page from the MySQL docs: CREATE TABLE