my db is not INSERTing some values

Question

I have the following codes:

   $query = "INSERT INTO main_table (id, matric_no, session, semester, 
                                    course_name, test, exam,practical)
       VALUES (NULL, '$_POST[matric_no]', '$_SESSION[session]', 
              '$_SESSION[semester]', '$_SESSION[course_name]', '$_POST[test]',
              '$_POST[exam]', '$_POST[practical]')";

       mysql_query($query) or
       die (mysql_error());

Then I tried:

       echo "$_POST[semester]";
       echo "$_POST[course_name]" ;

and they echoed out what I was expecting but not INSERTing INTO the database.. Only those two.

Thanks.

What types are the columns? Also, never insert POST values directly. See php.net/manual/en/security.database.sql-injection.php — Pekka
– Pekka, Commented Nov 21, 2011 at 23:03
what exactly do you mean by columns? The first session value inserted. — user652792
– user652792, Commented Nov 21, 2011 at 23:05
yes i can see the mistake. I used INT instead of VARCHAR... Thanks a bunch. — user652792
– user652792, Commented Nov 21, 2011 at 23:09

Pekka · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-21 23:34:11Z

2

As pointed out in the comments, the problem was a column type mismatch that wasn't visible in the original question.

However, it is a very bad idea to insert POST or other values directly - always run mysql_real_escape_string() (or whatever sanitation function your database library provides) on them. More on SQL injections here.

answered Nov 21, 2011 at 23:34

community wiki

Pekka

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3 Comments

Pekka Over a year ago

@Martin I only answered it because there was no correct one to tick - I initially suggested deleting the question altogether.

Martin. Over a year ago

ah, I have meant "Why did you mark this as community wiki answer?", sorry.

Pekka Over a year ago

@Martin yeah, I understood what you meant. No specific reason, I was just annoyed about the existing answers (one of which was accepted) so I chose to shove one in for accepting. It wouldn't have had to be CW though.

Pekka · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-21 23:33:42Z

-1

This code should give you a syntax error...

   echo "$_POST[semester]";
   echo "$_POST[course_name]" ;

Try this

   echo "{$_POST['semester']}";
   echo "{$_POST['course_name']}" ;

or this:

   echo "xxx".$_POST['semester']."xxx";
   echo "xxx".$_POST['course_name']."xxx;

More information here:

http://php.net/manual/en/language.types.string.php

Mind that $_POST[xxx] is note the proper syntax !!! Read docs above!

edited Nov 21, 2011 at 23:33

Pekka

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answered Nov 21, 2011 at 23:14

Peter

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3 Comments

Pekka Over a year ago

Not true. This is proper syntax to address an array inside a string.

Pekka Over a year ago

Peter - have you tried echo "$_POST[semester]";? It works. It's not the problem (although examples 2 and 3 are much better style, no doubt)

Pekka Over a year ago

... but removing downvote because it's still way better than the other one

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