Select Query Function

rakennedy75

I was wondering if anyone had any input on how to create a reusable query in a function.

Here is my original:

  $query = "SELECT DISTINCT firstName FROM myTable WHERE lastName='$lastName'";
   $result = mysql_query($query, $connection);
   //.... rest of code goes here

I want to use a function since I will be using this a number of times with different variables in place. Here is what I was thinking, something like this....

function getSelection($var1, $var2)
{
   $query = "SELECT DISTINCT $var1 FROM myTable WHERE $var2='$var2'";
   $result = mysql_query($query, $connection);
   //.... rest of code goes here
}
getSelection("firstName", "lastName");

This is where I am seeing the problem...
$var2='$var2'

when the function pulls the var lastName into it, is there a way I can get it to read the string "lastName" as a var instead of as a string so it would read $lastName?

essentially the function should read :
lastName='$lastName'

Any ideas on how this can be accomplished, thanks for your time.

bodzan

Well, if I'm not mistaken there is no way for you to do that, but why it should be?

You can make one tiny modification in order to achieve the functionality you're looking for:

function getselection($var1, $var2, $var3){
$query = "SELECT DISTINCT $var1 FROM myTable WHERE $var2='$var3'";
$result = mysql_query($query, $connection);
}

That could be used as many times you want...

rakennedy75

Good enough for me, thanks.
Guess I should of thought about that.

YappyDog

You should be able to do it in your first function by using a variable variable (note the second dollar sign).

function getSelection($var1, $var2)
{
$query = "SELECT DISTINCT $var1 FROM myTable WHERE $var2='$$var2'";
$result = mysql_query($query, $connection);
//.... rest of code goes here
}
getSelection("firstName", "lastName");

http://us2.php.net/variables.variable