mysql encode help

[help_needed]

Can someone please tell me what's wrong with my code?

<?
// This has the db connection info..including connect & select db.
require ("inc/global.php"); 

echo $password;
echo '<br>';
echo $username;
echo '<br>';
// I'm wondering about the following line. Where do we get the password from, for the encode?It is the password we use for the database username (when we try to connect to the database.) or is it a totally different password?
$pass="123";


$sql = "UPDATE test SET epassword=ENCODE($password, $pass) WHERE username='$username'";

$result = mysql_query($sql);
if (!$result)
{echo "Mistake";}
else
{echo "Done!";}
?>

[blindeddie]

I checked the MySQL manual and it just says

"Encrypt str using pass_str as the password. To decrypt the result, use DECODE()."

I am assuming this means that you can use any password you want, but to decode the password, you would have to use the same password. The encode function must use the password in the encryption algorithm...

Blindeddie