Trouble retrieving logged in user info from database with PHP and mySQL

Question

I am trying to query and display user information from the database such as name and email. I've spent a couple days on this and read some similar threads here but have had no luck.

If I use the following query I can get what I want about a specific user and display it accordingly.

$sql = "SELECT firstname, lastname, email FROM users where username = 'blim'";

Now I want to run the same query but replace 'blim' with ($_SESSION["username"]) I get an error.

$sql = "SELECT firstname, lastname, email FROM users where username = ($_SESSION["username"])";

The reason why I thought this would work is because by using

<?php echo ($_SESSION["username"]); ?>

I am able to display a greeting specif to the user logged in so I thought I could compare that to rows in the database to retrieve information from specific columns.

try this way $sql = "SELECT firstname, lastname, email FROM users where username = '".$_SESSION["username"]."'"; — Boby
– Boby, Commented Oct 16, 2018 at 7:11
The error you are getting is telling you what's the problem. Probably you get PHP Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '"', expecting '-' or identifier (T_STRING) or variable (T_VARIABLE) or number (T_NUM_STRING) in . @MyNameIs comment should work. — AnTrakS
– AnTrakS, Commented Oct 16, 2018 at 7:13
You could use $sql = "SELECT firstname, lastname, email FROM users where username = '{$_SESSION['username']}";, which is only a slightly shorter version fo MyNameIs's comment. Array inside a string needs to be enclosed in {}. Also, don't forget the ' you had around 'blim'. — user8034901
– user8034901, Commented Oct 16, 2018 at 7:16

Cecil Merrell · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-16 07:23:13Z

1

Try loading the username from session into its own variable, then use that variable in the query.

$username = $_SESSION["username"];

$sql = "SELECT firstname, lastname, email FROM users where username = $username";

answered Oct 16, 2018 at 7:23

Cecil Merrell

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1 Comment

blim Over a year ago

Thanks! Yea this works. So simple yet I needed to add another step. I think I was even onto that and didn't try it for some reason.

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