Insert query is failing

Question

I am using mysql_query to execute a insert query. It fails to save a particular user's data due to DB is not able to insert the Educations column's value, returns false result. This is working fine for remaining users.

$result = mysql_query("INSERT INTO user (FirstName,LastName,Pic,Birthday,Industry,Languages,Summary,Email,Positions,Skills,Publications,Volunteer,Location,Awards,Certifications,Interests,Educations)
values ('$first_name','$last_name','$pic','$birthday','$industry','$languages','$summary','$email','$positions','$skills','$publications','$volunteer','$location','$awards','$certifications','$interests','$education')",$mysql);

All fields are string values.

Add error reporting to the top of your file(s) `error_reporting(E_ALL); ini_set('display_errors', 1);` — Funk Forty Niner, Jun 06 '14 at 02:31
db field type for 'Educations' is ? Also assign the query to a variable then you can echo it for debugging. — , Jun 06 '14 at 02:31
There are lots of reasons this could be broken, most of which have to do with potentially incorrectly escaped variables. `echo mysql_error();`. — Michael Berkowski, Jun 06 '14 at 02:31
Thorough error checking is _essential_ when working with the old `mysql_*()` API ([which has been deprecated](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12859942/why-shouldnt-i-use-mysql-functions-in-php)). — Michael Berkowski, Jun 06 '14 at 02:33
@SainathKrishnan All others that are in plural form, `$education` isn't which is why I'm questioning it. OP might have made a typo somewhere. OP would need to use error reporting, plus show table schema and rest of code. — Funk Forty Niner, Jun 06 '14 at 02:36
When building a string like this, the very first order of debugging is to just `echo $string;` store it to a variable rather than stuffing it straight into `mysql_query()` and `echo` out the variable to make sure it contains what you expect it to (it doesn't, and that is why it fails) — Michael Berkowski, Jun 06 '14 at 02:39
Add this to your next line `if(! $result){ die(mysql_error()); }` then post the error you are recieving — Sainath Krishnan, Jun 06 '14 at 02:49

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 06 '14 at 03:33

The variable may not be escaped. I suggest you switch to using the PDO library because as of PHP 5.5, the MySQL native extension will be deprecated. PDO has many advantages over MySQL native such as prepared statements and named parameters. Prepare method will escape and also auto quote variables that you pass in. You won't have to worry about it anymore. Take a look at my rewrite of your current code:

$pdo = new PDO($dsn, $user, $password);

$values_array = array(
    ':first_name' => $first_name,
    ':last_name' => $last_name,
    ':pic' => $pic,
    ':birthday' => $birthday,
    ':industry' => $industry,
    ':languages' => $languages,
    ':summary' => $summary,
    ':email' => $email,
    ':positions' => $positions,
    ':skills' => $skills,
    ':publications' => $publications,
    ':volunteer' => $volunteer,
    ':location' => $location,
    ':awards' => $awards,
    ':certifications' => $certifications,
    ':interests' => $interests,
    ':education' => $education
);

$result = $pdo->prepare('INSERT INTO user (FirstName,LastName,Pic,Birthday,Industry,Languages,Summary,Email,Positions,Skills,Publications,Volunteer,Location,Awards,Certifications,Interests,Educations) values (:first_name,:last_name,:pic,:birthday,:industry,:languages,:summary,:email,:positions,:skills,:publications,:volunteer,:location,:awards,:certifications,:interests,:education)');

$result->execute($values_array);

You might want to consider switching to PDO for future proof.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 06 '14 at 02:40

0

I notice most of the value variables are plural, except $education, though the key states its plural.

Aside from that, look at escaping and your quotes.

answered Jun 06 '14 at 02:40

Cody

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[`As said 3 minutes prior to this`](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/24073231/insert-query-is-failing#comment37123284_24073231) - this is a comment and not an answer. – Funk Forty Niner Jun 06 '14 at 02:41

Insert query is failing

2 Answers2