Multiple SQL insert question

Negotiator

ok all of these are in the same table and i am making a form with input text boxes that will insert the info in the input boxes to the ps2 table in the DB....here is my code

if($_POST['submit']) {

mysql_query("
INSERT INTO ps2 (platform) VALUES('$_POST[platform]');
INSERT INTO ps2 (name) VALUES('$_POST[map]');
INSERT INTO ps2 (bgcolor) VALUES('$_POST[bgcolor]');
INSERT INTO ps2 (letter) VALUES('$_POST[letter]');
");
}

i have tried the mysqli_multi_query, but it keeps on bringing^ an error saying theres only one parameter when there needs to be 2 or sumthin like that....
This is the code that i have and it doesn't insert the values into the DB like it should...so I dont know what im doing wrong

Any comments welcome, and thanks in advance!!

Negotiator

Oh and i use wamp5 on my computer...

NogDog

Do you want to add 4 separate rows to the table, or just one row? (I ask because it seems rather odd the way your example is laid out, implying you want to insert 4 new rows, but with a different column being populated in each row.)

rvdavid

Hi there

Negotiator wrote:
i have tried the mysqli_multi_query, but it keeps on bringing^ an error saying theres only one parameter when there needs to be 2 or sumthin like that....
This is the code that i have and it doesn't insert the values into the DB like it should...so I dont know what im doing wrong

Any comments welcome, and thanks in advance!!

Try passing the connection reference before the sql like they have in the documentation

// connect to db
$link = mysqli_connect("someHost", "someUser", "somePass", "someDB");

// multi sql query string
$sql = "INSERT INTO ps2 (platform) VALUES('$_POST[platform]');
INSERT INTO ps2 (name) VALUES('$_POST[map]');
INSERT INTO ps2 (bgcolor) VALUES('$_POST[bgcolor]');
INSERT INTO ps2 (letter) VALUES('$_POST[letter]');";

// execute with multi query
mysqli_multi_query($link, $sql);

HTH 🙂

Regards,

rvdavid

NogDog wrote:
Do you want to add 4 separate rows to the table, or just one row? (I ask because it seems rather odd the way your example is laid out, implying you want to insert 4 new rows, but with a different column being populated in each row.)

I agree.

If you wanted to insert one row, then you could format your SQL this way.

$sql = "INSERT INTO ps2 (platform, name, bgcolor, letter) 
VALUES('$_POST[platform]','$_POST[map]','$_POST[bgcolor]','$_POST[letter]')";

Negotiator

rvdavid wrote:
I agree.

If you wanted to insert one row, then you could format your SQL this way.
$sql = "INSERT INTO ps2 (platform, name, bgcolor, letter) 
VALUES('$_POST[platform]','$_POST[map]','$_POST[bgcolor]','$_POST[letter]')";

this was the way I was actually looking for....I wanted them to be inserted into the ps2 row...I figured it out after trying just about everything, but thnx for you help!!!

bradgrafelman

Don't forget to mark this thread resolved.

Piranha

Please take a look at [man]mysql_real_escape_string[/man] to avoid database injection.

bradgrafelman

Not to mention:

Array indeces in your case should be strings. $row[name] does not have a string as an index, but a constant. PHP will detect this (assuming there actually isn't a constant named 'name') and throw an E_WARNING and then assume it is a string. So, use quotes: $row['name'].
Arrays, more specifically items in arrays referenced by indeces, should not simply appear inside a double-quoted string. If they do, they should be wrapped in braces ( {} ). Instead, I usually escape out of the string and concatenate the array in the middle, like so:
```
echo 'Your name is: ' . $row['name'] . '! Hello there.';
```

rvdavid

bradgrafelman wrote:
Not to mention:
Array indeces in your case should be strings. $row[name] does not have a string as an index, but a constant. PHP will detect this (assuming there actually isn't a constant named 'name') and throw an E_WARNING and then assume it is a string. So, use quotes: $row['name'].
Arrays, more specifically items in arrays referenced by indeces, should not simply appear inside a double-quoted string. If they do, they should be wrapped in braces ( {} ). Instead, I usually escape out of the string and concatenate the array in the middle, like so:
echo 'Your name is: ' . $row['name'] . '! Hello there.';

I agree with brad's recommendations.

However, although associative array keys SHOULD indeed be used as $row['somekey'] you'll find that this works:

$row = array('somevar'=>'foo','anothervar'=>'bar');
$test = "$row[somevar]$row[anothervar]" ;
echo $test; // will output 'foobar'

It's a common misconception because $row[somvar] will fail if not wrapped in double quotes - the double quotes will parse this as valid.

Although this works, you should do it as brad has suggested.

regards,

NogDog

rvdavid wrote:
I agree with brad's recommendations.

However, although associative array keys SHOULD indeed be used as $row['somekey'] you'll find that this works:
$row = array('somevar'=>'foo','anothervar'=>'bar');
$test = "$row[somevar]$row[anothervar]" ;
echo $test; // will output 'foobar'
It's a common misconception because $row[somvar] will fail if not wrapped in double quotes - the double quotes will parse this as valid.

Although this works, you should do it as brad has suggested.

regards,

It will probably work, but it may also result in a hard-to-find bug. See ""Why $foo[bar] is wrong" for more info.

rvdavid

NogDog wrote:
It will probably work,

It DOES work. 🙂

.. but it may also result in a hard-to-find bug.

I agree, not to mention resulting in using two conventions for associative arrays.
Like $row['foo']; for when you are outside of a double quoted string and $row[bar]
When inside a double quoted string.

It's the wrong way of doing things and should be considered as bad practice...

But it still works.

regards,

NogDog

rvdavid wrote:
It DOES work. 🙂
...
But it still works.

regards,

Not if you do this:

<?php
ini_set("display_errors", 1);
error_reporting(E_ALL);
define('test', 'foobar');
$array = array('test' => 'Correct value');
echo "With quotes: ".$array['test']."<br>\n";
echo "Without quotes: ".$array[test];
?>

rvdavid

I was talking about using it double quotes.

The example you provided is why some ppl think that it's invalid even within double quotes.

rvdavid wrote:
It's a common misconception because $row[somvar] will fail if not wrapped in double quotes - the double quotes will parse this as valid.

🙂

Piranha

I have to agree with Brad for best practice. However, he supplied me with this link in another thread, and according to that it take that variable in the follwing case and not the constant. In the second case there should be ' signs, otherwise it will look for a constant first.

// First case
echo "Man, my $row[column1] really $row[column2] today.";

// Second case
echo "Man, my " . $row['column1'] . " really " . $row['column2'] . " today.";

And you don't need the curly brackets {} when you use single-dimensional arrays. But you need it when you use multi-dimensional arrays.