mysql select distinct value (and count the number of values)

Question

I'm stuck forming a MySQL query. I have 6 tables with similar columns. Before you ask they need to be updated separately and deleted; together with the quantity of the data.

So to get the sum from multiple tables, I use SELECT SUM(x) FROM (SELECT COUNT(value) as x etc)

To get one unique id I use DISTINCT(value). Now I need to combine them into a 2 column query, so I have a unique value and count.

My data looks like this for example form 1 table (multiply by 6):

    till_no  | fruit  | vegetables
    123      | apple  |  null
    123      | apple  | carrot
    125      | apple  | pear
    124      | apple  | null

What I want is 123|2, 124|1, 125|1

    SELECT DISTINCT(y), SUM(a) FROM (
      (SELECT till_no as y, (SELECT COUNT(till_no)  FROM Shop1) as a FROM Shop1 c)
      UNION (SELECT till_no as y, (SELECT COUNT(_till_no)  FROM Shop2) 
           as a FROM Shop2 c)
       ) multipleTables

Answer 1

There is no need to use DISTINCT. GROUP BY clause will take of that on your behalf. You can try below query -

SELECT CONCAT(y, COUNT(y)) 
FROM (SELECT till_no as y FROM Shop1
      UNION
      SELECT till_no as y FROM Shop2
      UNION
      SELECT till_no as y FROM Shop3
      UNION
      SELECT till_no as y FROM Shop4
      UNION
      SELECT till_no as y FROM Shop5
      UNION
      SELECT till_no as y FROM Shop6) multiple tables
GROUP BY y

Answer 2

Ankit put me on the right path.

The solution is:

     SELECT z, SUM(y) 
     FROM (SELECT ea as z, COUNT(ea) as y FROM table1 GROUP BY ea
     UNION
     SELECT ea as z, COUNT(ea) as y FROM table2 GROUP BY ea
     UNION
     SELECT ea as z, COUNT(ea) as y FROM table3 GROUP BY ea
     UNION
     SELECT ea as z, COUNT(ea) as y FROM table4 GROUP BY ea
     UNION
     SELECT ea as z, COUNT(ea) as y FROM table5 GROUP BY ea
     UNION
     SELECT ea as z, COUNT(ea) as y FROM table6 GROUP BY ea) 
     multipletables
     GROUP BY y

The trick to solving the solution is to break it into small steps... logically 1+1 sure beats 47+126