using a url parameter to define field in MySQL recordset

I'm afraid I'm no expert so although I'm highly intrigued, it doesn't make complete sense to me.

I created the table along the lines you suggested and it seems to leave me with nothing more than one row for each person, unless of course I create 356 rows for each person. Is that what you had in mind?

mac-in-the-mountains wrote:
> It's the column name that I was hoping to uset he URL parameter to dictate
> which will save me creating zillions of pages to deal with each column.
>
> Is that possible or do I have to specify it exactly by name?

No, it's possible, if that's what you want/need to do. I suspect your
problem is that you're adding PHP tags in the middle of code that's
already being generated by PHP. You can't nest PHP tags.

Let's say your SQL query generated by DW looks like this:

$query_recordsetName = "SELECT columnName FROM rota WHERE columnName =
'HOL'";

You need to change it like this:

$columnName = mysql_real_escape_string($_GET['columnName']);
$query_recordsetName = "SELECT $columnName FROM rota WHERE $columnName =
'HOL'";

--
David Powers
Adobe Community Expert
Author, "Foundation PHP for Dreamweaver 8" (friends of ED)
http://foundationphp.com/

??? Do you have zillions of columns?

It looks like you're trying to match a name against your table:

SELECT <?php echo $_GET['name']; ?>
FROM rota
WHERE <?php echo $_GET['name']; ?> = 'HOL'

however, the statement above would mean you have a column name equal to
wahtever $_GET['name'] is - so if I entered HOL, then the COLUMN NAME would
need to be HOL, not the COLUMN VALUE.

You table should look something like this: (I made up some fields, but you
can get the gist)

table rota
id name password
1 HOL pass123
2 JCP 456pass

Then, if I want to find out my password, I would have an "enter name" box in
my form, and my sql qould look like this:

SELECT password WHERE name = <?php echo $_GET['name']?>

I don't think the echo statement will work, but don't know, i"ve just not
setup any statements exactly like that. Mine typically use a %s or I just
append the string.

Anyway, you have three sections to your SQL:

Select - This is the field you are wanting. Name has no place in here, as
you're not looking for a name, you already have that (it's what was
submitted on your form). What you're looking for is password. If you want
to bring in the rest of the records instead of just the password, use a *
for all fields in the table.

WHERE - this is your condition. In your statement, you said where HOL =
HOL. This is incorrect, b/c what you were wanting to say (it appears) is
Name=HOL. So in your where clause you need to list the field you're sorting
by (name), and then the value you wish to sort it with (your variable).

:O) And I guess you don't have a third. You can also SORT your results, but
that's not necessary here.

HTH<

Jon
"mac-in-the-mountains" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
news:ehnt6k$hee$1@forums.macromedia.com...
> It's the column name that I was hoping to uset he URL parameter to dictate
> which will save me creating zillions of pages to deal with each column.
>
> Is that possible or do I have to specify it exactly by name?
>
>
> Dave
>

On Wed, 25 Oct 2006 14:53:54 +0100, David Powers <david@example.com>
wrote:

>Steve wrote:
>>
>> WHERE <?php echo $_GET['name']; ?> == 'HOL'
>
>No. SQL uses a single equals sign as a comparison operator. You don't
>need two.

Ach! And I knew that. Time to call it a night I think.
--
Steve
steve at flyingtigerwebdesign dot com

It's the column name that I was hoping to uset he URL parameter to dictate which will save me creating zillions of pages to deal with each column.

Is that possible or do I have to specify it exactly by name?


Dave

Sorry Steve,

That doesn't seem to work at all. I just get a MySQl error.

Thanks anyway. Any other suggestions?

Dave

Steve wrote:
>
> WHERE <?php echo $_GET['name']; ?> == 'HOL'

No. SQL uses a single equals sign as a comparison operator. You don't
need two.

I think the problem lies in the original SQL. SELECT should be followed
by the column name or by *, not by <?php echo $_GET['name']; ?>

--
David Powers
Adobe Community Expert
Author, "Foundation PHP for Dreamweaver 8" (friends of ED)
http://foundationphp.com/

On Wed, 25 Oct 2006 13:11:32 +0000 (UTC), "mac-in-the-mountains"
<webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote:

> WHERE <?php echo $_GET['name']; ?> = 'HOL'

WHERE <?php echo $_GET['name']; ?> == 'HOL'
--
Steve
steve at flyingtigerwebdesign dot com