Ambiguous column in Codeigniter Datatables server side - php

Question

I'm working on a system that has several server-side datatables but i facing issues with 2 joins when i try to order de columns.
I receive the following message when try to sort the columns:
Query error: Column 'notes' in order clause is ambiguous - Invalid query: SELECT *
FROM `tbl_project`
LEFT JOIN `tbl_client` ON `tbl_project`.`client_id`=`tbl_client`.`client_id`
LEFT JOIN `tbl_account_details` ON `tbl_project`.`created_by` = `tbl_account_details`.`user_id`
LEFT JOIN `tbl_notes` ON `tbl_project`.`notes` = `tbl_notes`.`notes_id`
WHERE `tbl_project`.`client_id` = '100'
ORDER BY `notes` DESC
LIMIT 10
This is the code with my query:
$id = $this->input->post("client_id");
$client_details = get_row('tbl_client', array('client_id' => $id));
$draw = intval($this->input->post("draw"));
$start = intval($this->input->post("start"));
$length = intval($this->input->post("length"));
$order = $this->input->post("order");
$search= $this->input->post("search");
$search = $search['value'];
$col = 0;
$dir = "";
if(!empty($order))
{
foreach($order as $o)
{
$col = $o['column'];
$dir= $o['dir'];
}
}
if($dir != "desc" && $dir != "desc")
{
$dir = "desc";
}
$valid_columns = array(
0=>'project_id',
1=>'client',
2=>'fullname',
3=>'notes',
4=>'origen',
5=>'end_date',
6=>'project_status',
7=>'action',
);
if(!isset($valid_columns[$col]))
{
$order = null;
}
else
{
$order = $valid_columns[$col];
}
if($order !=null)
{
$this->db->order_by($order, $dir);
}
$searchQuery = "";
if($search != ''){
$searchQuery = " (tbl_project.project_id like'%".$search."%' OR tbl_project.end_date like'%".$search."%' OR tbl_project.project_status like'%".$search."%' OR tbl_notes.notes like'%".$search."%' OR tbl_notes.eco like'%".$search."%' OR tbl_account_details.origen like'%".$search."%' OR tbl_client.name like'%".$search."%') ";
}
$this->db->select('*');
$this->db->from('tbl_project');
$this->db->join('tbl_client', 'tbl_project.client_id=tbl_client.client_id','left');
$this->db->join('tbl_account_details', 'tbl_project.created_by = tbl_account_details.user_id','left');
$this->db->join('tbl_notes', 'tbl_project.notes = tbl_notes.notes_id','left');
$this->db->where('tbl_project.client_id', $client_details->client_id);
if($searchQuery != '')
$this->db->where($searchQuery);
$this->db->limit($length,$start);
$cita = $this->db->get()->result();
For some reason the ORDER BY is not set as tbl_notes.notes
Any suggestion on how to fix this?
Thanks in advance
EDIT: i have added more code so there is more visibility of the process

Answer 1

The error occurs, because your column name is not unique, it exists in more than one table.
append the table name of the searched column to your query to make it unique:
for example in this line:
$this->db->order_by('my_table_name.'.$order, $dir);
that would generate something like
ORDER BY `my_table_name.notes` DESC
edit: or in case you have to address columns from several different tables you could change your $valid_columns array:
$valid_columns = array(
0=>'my_table_name1.project_id',
1=>'my_table_name2.client',
2=>'my_table_name2.fullname',
3=>'my_table_name3.notes',
// etc.
);
and maintain the remaining original code.