Custom queries using arrays and implode function in php

Question

I am coding a game site. On this site, every question should be displayed to the user only once. Questions ID's are stored in a one field:

name of field in table: hidden_questions

hidden_questions values :1,2,3,17

I'm trying to get the IDs from the database and store them in an array using the implode function:

$q1= array($data['question_id']);
$q2= implode(',', $q1); // returns 1,2,3,4,5

And I want to display a non-repeat question using the following query:

$sql = "SELECT * FROM question WHERE question_id!=('".$q2."') LIMIT 1";

This code does not work and questions with the ID stored in the hidden_questions field are displayed. please guide me.

You probably want to say `SELECT... WHERE... NOT IN()` – Nigel Ren Jan 11 '19 at 07:35 — Nigel Ren, Jan 11 '19 at 07:35
`!=('".$q2."')` should be `NOT IN ($q2)` – Nick Jan 11 '19 at 07:37 — Nick, Jan 11 '19 at 07:37

Koen Hollander · Accepted Answer · 2019-01-11T07:48:38.643

I see that someone already wrote a comment about the solution, but I still write it down for you.

You are on the right way and I understand what you want to do. But, MySQL does not have something like != in this syntax.

Maybe you can try to use the NOT IN

$sql = "SELECT * FROM question WHERE question_id NOT IN (".$b.") LIMIT 1";

Also, why do you use the LIMIT 1? According to your explanation it looks like that you want to show multiple questions.

Disclaimer: I did not test the code, maybe you needto play some with the quotes. But this should be the solution

1 Answers1