using variables in select statements

[Neil Knapp]

when I attempt to use a variable in a select statement it returns the value of the variable rather than the contents of the column with the variable name.

e.g.

if there is 1 row in the column1 column containing the word 'hello'

set @t1='column1;'

select @t1 from table;

this returns

---------
| '@t1' |
---------
|column1|
----------

instead, I was hoping it would return 'hello', so instead of returning the value of the column, it is returning the value of the variable.

Is there anyway to combat this please?

Regards

Neil