[RESOLVED] INSERT vs. UPDATE

[everythingis]

I'm trying to create my edit profile page for members, and the first time a user goes to it, all the values in the database are empty, so will an UPDATE work for inserting the initial values into the database, or do I need to have an INSERT INTO query before a record can be updated?

The reason why I ask is that my UPDATE is not populating the empty database & It might also be that my script is wrong:

if (isset($_POST['parse_var']) && $_POST['parse_var'] == 'userprofile'){


	$country = $_POST['country'];
	$city = $_POST['city'];
	$state = $_POST['state'];
	$relation_status = $_POST['relation_status'];
	$website = $_POST['website'];
	$phone = $_POST['phone'];
	$employer = $_POST['employer'];
	$occupation = $_POST['occupation'];
	$eduGradHS = $_POST['eduGradHS'];
	$eduGradDateHS = $_POST['eduGradDateHS'];
	$eduGradUNIV = $_POST['eduGradUNIV'];
	$eduGradDateUNIV = $_POST['eduGradDateUNIV'];
	$aboutMe = $_POST['aboutMe'];
	$favActivities = $_POST['favActivities'];
	$favQuote = $_POST['favQuote'];
	$favMusic = $_POST['favMusic'];
	$favMovies = $_POST['favMovies'];
	$favBooks = $_POST['favBooks'];
	$favPlaces = $_POST['favPlaces'];


	if (count($_POST['hereFor']) > 0) {	 	
	$hereFor = implode(', ', $_POST['hereFor']); //Converts an array into a single string
	}




// Connect to database
include_once "includes/scripts/connect_to_mysql.php";	


	$country = mysql_real_escape_string($country);
	$city = mysql_real_escape_string($city);		
	$state = mysql_real_escape_string($state);		
	$relation_status = mysql_real_escape_string($relation_status);
	$hereFor = mysql_real_escape_string($hereFor);
	$email = mysql_real_escape_string($email);
	$website = mysql_real_escape_string($website);
	$phone = mysql_real_escape_string($phone);
	$employer = mysql_real_escape_string($employer);
	$occupation = mysql_real_escape_string($occupation);
	$eduGradHS = mysql_real_escape_string($eduGradHS);
	$eduGradDateHS = mysql_real_escape_string($eduGradDateHS);
	$eduGradUNIV = mysql_real_escape_string($eduGradUNIV);
	$eduGradDateUNIV = mysql_real_escape_string($eduGradDateUNIV);
	$aboutMe = mysql_real_escape_string($aboutMe);
	$favActivities = mysql_real_escape_string($favActivities);
	$favQuote = mysql_real_escape_string($favQuote);
	$favMusic = mysql_real_escape_string($favMusic);
	$favMovies = mysql_real_escape_string($favMovies);
	$favBooks = mysql_real_escape_string($favBooks);
	$favPlaces = mysql_real_escape_string($favPlaces);





   	$sqlUpdate = "UPDATE member_profile SET country='$country', city='$city', state='$state', relation_status='$relation_status', hereFor='$hereFor',  website='$website', phone='$phone', employer='$employer', occupation='$occupation', eduGradHS='$eduGradHS', eduGradDateHS='$eduGradDateHS', eduGradUNIV='$eduGradUNIV', eduGradDateUNIV='$eduGradDateUNIV', aboutMe='$aboutMe', favActivities='$favActivities', favQuote='$favQuote', favMusic='$favMusic', favMovies='$favMovies', favBooks='$favBooks', favPlaces='$favPlaces', WHERE user_id='$user_id'";

}

[dagon]

you want an insert first the where would fail on the update, as there's no value to match

[everythingis]

These values are included into the same table that the basic user info is on & already contains the user_id, so it will have a value for that field.

Do I still need the INSERT first because the rest of the values are empty?

And if I do, is there a way to make an if else statement in case the database fields are empty, then INSERT, if the fields are not empty, then UPDATE?

[dagon]

everythingis;10950282 wrote:

Do I still need the INSERT first because the rest of the values are empty?

No

everythingis;10950282 wrote:

And if I do, is there a way to make an if else statement in case the database fields are empty, then INSERT, if the fields are not empty, then UPDATE?

use REPLACE, if you wish to do that.

[everythingis]

There must be something wrong with my script then because if I don't need an INSERT query because my user_id is already set in the table, then there's some other reason why the database isn't capturing the values & updating the database.

If I use the REPLACE, will that completely delete the row & replace it with a new one, or just replace the individual fields within the row?

Because I have other fields within the table that aren't part of this script that I don't want to lose.

I read this on another site:

The REPLACE statement very similarly or exactly like INSERT statment, except for the fact that in case a record with the same primary key exists in the one that's going to be inserted then the old row is deleted before the new one is inserted.

[dagon]

In the code above, you don't actully run the query.