inserting data into a database

carlosa69

I've been looking over the functions for MySQL, and I havent been able to figure out how to enter the data into the database. I have looked in a tutorial and (1) it only showed how to do it on Linux (2) it didnt say how you could do it froman HTML form. Any help would be apreciated
-carlos aguilar

polson

The key here is SQL, not PHP. Check out this basic SQL tutorial :

http://www.sqlcourse.com/

And the mysql function you'll want to play with is mysql_query as it basically queries SQL for us. To insert you want INSERT :

http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.mysql-query.php

For a few examples, check out :
http://devshed.com/Server_Side/PHP/DB_Basics/

But essentially, you are wanting SQL. SQL is your friend.

Anon

hi carlos,

try this:

$sql_insert = mysql_query("insert into table values ('$var1', '$var2', '$var3')");

cheers,

jojit

carlosa69

Thank you, but do all these SQL commands work strait out of PHP. do you have to do something like <scirpt language="SQL"> outside of php or can you just connect to mysql and write the commands. How will they be recognized? Thanks for the help!

-carlos aguilar

polson

You can run pretty much any of the SQL you saw on that site within mysql_query, try it! Nothing special is needed. But to get the result you'll need a function such as mysql_fetch_array or mysql_fetch_object. Go here :

http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.mysql-fetch-object.php

Note the example. Also note that mysql_db_query is just the same as mysql_query except one states exactly which db is being queried ... that example should make sense, does it? Also, check out tutorials on the subject like the quoted devshed one, see how they use standard SQL? SQL is your friend. Here's another tutorial that demonstrates :

http://php.vamsi.net/mysql/index.php

Good luck :-) MySQL uses SQL (most of it) but for all intensive purposes, all basic SQL can be used and SQL is where the bulk of db interaction takes place. Long live SQL!

carlosa69

Thanks! I'm still however having problems. Maybe I'm a little slow but didnt you say that to use an sql function you could just shove the SQL command into the mysql_query function. if this is true then wh isnt this working??? : mysql_query(create table "tablename"("column1" "data type"));

thanks a lot
-carlos aguilar

polson

Well, a few rules exist :-)

First, to learn about proper use of quotes, check out these two resources :

This applies everywhere, including within mysql_query. Now if you look here :

http://php.vamsi.net/mysql/index.php

Note the following is shown :

create table contact(id int not null auto_increment,
name varchar(32),
email varchar(32),
extension int(5),
nick varchar(32),
primary key(id));

Which can be run like this :

$result = mysql_query(" create table contact(id int not null auto_increment,
name varchar(32),
email varchar(32),
extension int(5),
nick varchar(32),
primary key(id)) ");

At any rate, it's important to understand the basics of PHP before jumping into it, hopefully this helps.

carlosa69

Thanks so much!!! I do know quite about strings and quotations I was just thrown off because in php commands are never put in quotes. However I guess this isnt php its SQL. What I really needed I guess was a working example. Thanks again
-carlos aguilar