problem with query

dtsdave

I'm trying to understand why a query on one column will work while a query on another column will not work. I use the following to create a table:

CREATE TABLE pages (
page_id TINYINT(5) UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
title VARCHAR(200) NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (page_id)
)

And this is the query I use on a template page:

$query = "SELECT * FROM pages WHERE page_id=".$_GET['page_id'];
$result = mysql_query($query) or die(mysql_error()); 
$row = mysql_fetch_array($result, MYSQL_ASSOC);

I have some other code on the page to call various data from the row. When I go to sitename.com/template.php?page_id=1 it shows the data I want from the row where page_id=1, sitename.com/template.php?pade_id=2 shows the data I want from the row where page_id=2, etc.

Now, I change the query, replacing page_id with title:

$query = "SELECT * FROM pages WHERE title=".$_GET['title'];
$result = mysql_query($query) or die(mysql_error()); 
$row = mysql_fetch_array($result, MYSQL_ASSOC);

When I go to sitename.com/template.php?title=title1 instead of showing the data from the row where I have a title = title1 I get an error that says Unknown column 'title1' in 'where clause'

Where am I going wrong? Why does it think title1 is the name of the column? I've tried using other columns instead of title and nothing works except page_id. Does it have something to do with how I setup my table? Thanks in advance for the help.

logu

Hi
The problem is you need to include a sigle quotes before and after a string
value . earlier you using is integer so it doesn't need.

try this

"SELECT * FROM pages WHERE title='$_GET['title']' ";

regards..

dtsdave

When I use that I get: "parse error, unexpected T_ENCAPSED_AND_WHITESPACE, expecting T_STRING or T_VARIABLE or T_NUM_STRING" for the line the query string is on.

laserlight

logu explained what was wrong, you need to correct a minor mistake in the example.

// using variable interpolation
$query = "SELECT * FROM pages WHERE title='{$_GET['title']}'";

// using string concatenation
$query = "SELECT * FROM pages WHERE title='" . $_GET['title'] . "'";

dtsdave

logu, laserlight - Thank you very much!