Problem with SQL INSERT INTO statement

[Box-X]

I haven't been working with php/mysql for that long so perhaps this will seem like an obvious error to someone here. I keep getting this error message:

Parse error: parse error, unexpected T_VARIABLE in /mnt on line 750.

I know it probably has something to do with syntax, possibly with the quotation marks but it looks alright to me. Can some one help? I've been staring at this for two days and no answer has come to me as to what is wrong.

The code:

function sql_addBanner($subcat,$href,$src,$target,$width,$height,$adwords,$adclass,$anchor,$alt,$bannercat){

global $link;

$table = $subcat . "banner";

$sqladd = "INSERT INTO " . $table . "(id,href,src,target,width,height,adwords,adclass,anchor,alt,bannercat) VALUES (NULL,'$href','$src','$target','$width','$height','$adwords','$adclass','$anchor','$alt','$bannercat')";

$q = mysql_query($sqladd,$link);

if($q){output_html('Banner has been added'); }
else{error('unable to complete request!'); }
exit;
}

Line 750 is the actual INSERT INTO line

[BooRadLey]

$sqladd = "INSERT INTO " . $table . " (id,href,src,target,width,height,adwords,adclass,anchor,alt,bannecat) VALUES(NULL,'".$href."','".$src."','".$target."',".$width.",".$height.",
'".$adwords."','".$adclass."','".$anchor."','".$alt."','".$bannercat."')";

Try that, I hope it works out, I took out the single quotes for the values I assumed were integers as well as those are for strings.

also, have you tried doing an echo of $sqladd? That can help you find the parse error almost immediately in most cases.

Brad

[Box-X]

I did as you suggested but it is just more of a puzzle. I get back:

Parse error: parse error, unexpected '\"' in /mnt/ which is strange because there is no \" string anywhere in the line.

I tried that echo trick and it looks correct though. This is what it looks like:

INSERT INTO primarybanner (id,href,src,target,width,height,adwords,adclass,anchor,alt,bannercat) VALUES(NULL,'blabla','images/banner6.gif','top',468,60,'Join us now','bigtext','website title','Click Here','MSF');

I'm wondering if the NULL could be causing the problem?

[eli03]

try to remove the quote on the $table

[Box-X]

Eli -- No, that's not it. Removing the quotes from $table had absolutely no effect. I still get the same error message. Totally at a loss here.

[BooRadLey]

here's a shot in the dark:

$target = mysql_escape_string($target);

$sqladd = "INSERT INTO " . $table . "  (id,href,src,target,width,height,adwords,adclass,anchor,alt,bannecat) VALUES(NULL,'".$href."','".$src."','".$target."',".$width.",".$height.", 
'".$adwords."','".$adclass."','".$anchor."','".$alt."','".$bannercat."')";

Does this do it?

Brad

[Box-X]

Boo -- No, even that had no effect, I am still getting:

Parse error: parse error, unexpected '\"' on the exact same line as before. I tried that mysql_escape_string with all the string variables too.

Even though this is a self-contained function, I'm wondering if perhaps there isn't an imbalance somewhere in the rest of my script-- an unclosed quote somewhere. or perhaps something is not right with the null. Does 'null' ever need quotes?

This thing has me pulling my hair out :mad:

Thanks for trying though 🙂

[BooRadLey]

nope, apparently NULL goes in quoteless, you could try making that field default to NULL and just not include it in the insert. That might do it if thats the problem but I don't think that is it.

Yeah from what I can see everything looks correct, are you able to post the entire function again, as it is now?

Brad

edit is id supposed to be NULL? or is it an auto incrementing field?

[Box-X]

This is the way it looks right now:

function sql_addBanner($subcat,$href,$src,$target,$width,$height,$adwords,$adclass,$anchor,$alt,$bannercat){

global $link;

$table = $subcat . "banner";

$table = mysql_escape_string($table);
$href = mysql_escape_string($href);
$src = mysql_escape_string($src);
$target = mysql_escape_string($target);
$adwords = mysql_escape_string($adwords);
$anchor = mysql_escape_string($anchor);
$alt = mysql_escape_string($alt);
$bannercat = mysql_escape_string($bannercat);

$sqladd = "INSERT INTO " . $table . " (id,href,src,target,width,height,adwords,adclass,anchor,alt,bannercat) VALUES(NULL."','".$href."','".$src."','".$target."',".$width.",".$height.", '".$adwords."','".$adclass."','".$anchor."','".$alt."','".$bannercat."')";

$q = mysql_query($sqladd,$link);

if($q){output_html('Banner has been added'); }
else{error('unable to complete request!'); }
exit;
}

I also tried putting the quotes around the comma that goes just after the null. (I don't think there was any there before). It still continues to give me the same message error.

The reason why I thought perhaps the 'null' might be the problem is that I have used this INSERT INTO code before with other scripts and it worked fine at other times. The only thing that was different this time was the null and the use of the variable $table to insert the mysql table name.

The id value is intended to be auto-incrementing.

[BooRadLey]

ok since that field is auto incrementing you can do:

$sqladd = "INSERT INTO " . $table . " (href,src,target,width,height,adwords,adclass,anchor,alt,bannercat) VALUES('".$href."','".$src."','".$target."',".$width.",".$height.", '".$adwords."','".$adclass."','".$anchor."','".$alt."','".$bannercat."')"; 

I'll take a look at the code and see if I can find anything

Brad

[BooRadLey]

Also, can you post the entire error? what is /mnt/ the directory the script is in?

Brad

[Box-X]

This is the error message: (slightly edited for privacy)

Parse error: parse error, unexpected '\"' in /mnt/www/domainhere.com/admin.php on line 760

[Box-X]

... and LIne 760 is the INSERT INTO line. 😃

[BooRadLey]

well, going back to your original code with some changes, what does this do?

$sqladd = "INSERT INTO " . $table . " (href, src, target, width, height, adwords, adclass, anchor, alt, bannercat) VALUES ('$href','$src','$target',$width,$height,
'$adwords','$adclass','$anchor','$alt','$bannercat
')";

Brad

[Box-X]

Making that change brings back the previous error message:

Parse error: parse error, unexpected T_VARIABLE in /mnt/www/domainhere.com/admin.php on line 760

I'll have to go through my entire script (for the second time)and see if there is a quote or a bracket that I have left unclosed somewhere. It is the only thing left that I can think of, that might be wrong.

[BooRadLey]

Ok, from reading up on other peoples encounters with that error, it can be a missing curly brace or even a space between <? and php ex: <? php instead of <?php

Hmm apparently it can even be the formatting depending on what editor you use... so I hope you find it 😃

Brad

[Box-X]

Thanks for your help. I'll let you know what happens 🆒

[Box-X]

I discovered the problem.

It was an unclosed single quote made on line 523 (227 lines before!!) which was causing all the difficulty. There was nothing wrong with the function as it was originally written. It just goes to show how perfect it all has to be made in order to work. 😃

[BooRadLey]

wow, I'm glad you got that solved. 😃 Happy coding.

Brad

[Box-X]

Thanks.

...And thanks again for your help Brad. 🙂