Session variable in MySQL query not working using PHP - php

I have the following MySQL query:
"UPDATE main SET latitude = '{$_POST['latitude']}', longitude = '{$_POST['longitude']}' WHERE idUser = '".$_SESSION['userId']."'""
But this does not work because the userId is always null in the query.
However if I echo $_SESSION['userId'], I get 32 (which is what I want).
And if I change the SQL to:
"UPDATE main SET latitude = '{$_POST['latitude']}', longitude = '{$_POST['longitude']}' WHERE idUser = 32"
It magically works!!!
What am I doing wrong?
EDIT:
I have changed the code to use prepare statements, it still does not work..
global $conn;
$stmt = $conn->prepare("UPDATE main SET latitude = ?, longitude = ? WHERE idUser = ?");
$stmt->bind_param("ssd", $_POST['latitude'], $_POST['longitude'], $_SESSION['userId']);
$stmt->execute();
It only works if I manually write the user Id I got from the echo of $_SESSION['userId']

There is an extra double quote at the end of that string .$_SESSION['userId']."'"", so how that even compiles I have no idea.

You can't bind multiple parameters using a single bindParam() command (you are also using the wrong function bind_param()). Also, the binding is also used for named placeholders. For your prepared statement with unnamed placeholders, simply run execute() using the variables as array, i.e.:
global $conn;
$stmt = $conn->prepare("UPDATE main SET latitude = ?, longitude = ? WHERE idUser = ?");
$stmt->execute(array($_POST['latitude'], $_POST['longitude'], $_SESSION['userId']));
If you want to use bindParam(), then use:
global $conn;
$stmt = $conn->prepare("UPDATE main SET latitude = :lat, longitude = :long WHERE idUser = :userId");
$stmt->bindParam(':lat', $_POST['latitude']);
$stmt->bindParam(':long', $_POST['longitude']);
$stmt->bindParam(':userId', $_SESSION['userId']);
$stmt->execute();
Important note: It seems like you are suppressing error reporting, as using the invalid function bind_param() should have thrown an error. You should enable error reporting in a development environment.

Why not use quotes in the same manner as the $_POST variables? It must have to do with the way you're using quotes inside of that string. I find that less confusion if I always create query strings within single quotes:
'UPDATE main SET latitude = '". $_POST['latitude'] ."',
longitude = '". $_POST['longitude'] ."'
WHERE idUser = '". $_SESSION['userId'];
And, as the comments have mentioned, you should use prepared statements.

Related

insert using a variable of a consult php and mysql

I am trying to perform an insert with the information of a query from another table, using php and mysql, I know that I have not done the protection part against sql injection correctly, I will solve that at the end, I tell you why then they only go to scold and do not contribute, would you be kind enough to tell me how to use the value obtained from the query, thank you.
<?php
mysqli_report(MYSQLI_REPORT_ERROR | MYSQLI_REPORT_STRICT);
include("conection.php");
$credits = mysqli_real_escape_string($con, $_POST['credits']);
$namesec = mysqli_real_escape_string($con, $_POST['namesec']);
$change = mysqli_real_escape_string($con, $_POST['change']);
$stmt = $con->prepare("UPDATE students
SET student_credits = (student_credits + ?)
WHERE student_qr = ?");
$stmt->bind_param("is", $_POST['credits'], $_POST['namesec']);
$stmt->execute();
$insert_query = $con->prepare("INSERT INTO historical_credits (id_students, credits_paid)
SELECT id_students, ?
FROM students
WHERE student_qr = ?"
);
$insert_query->bind_param("is", $_POST['credits'], $_POST['namesec']);
$insert_query->execute();
mysqli_close($con);
?>
I want to use the value of id_student obtained from the query to insert it into a new table
You forgot to call fetch_assoc() to get the row that the query returns.
You also didn't quote $namesec in the SELECT query, so it's getting an error. This wouldn't be a problem if you used a parameter instead of substituting the variable.
But there's no need to do this in two queries. You can give a SELECT query as the source of the data in INSERT.
$insert_query = $con->prepare("
INSERT INTO historical_credits (id_students, credits_paid)
SELECT id_students, ?
FROM students
WHERE student_qr = ?");
$insert_query->bind_param("is", $_POST['credits'], $_POST['namesec']);
$insert_query->execute();

Using PHP variable in SQL query

I'm having some trouble using a variable declared in PHP with an SQL query. I have used the resources at How to include a PHP variable inside a MySQL insert statement but have had no luck with them. I realize this is prone to SQL injection and if someone wants to show me how to protect against that, I will gladly implement that. (I think by using mysql_real_escape_string but that may be deprecated?)
<?php
$q = 'Hospital_Name';
$query = "SELECT * FROM database.table WHERE field_name = 'hospital_name' AND value = '$q'";
$query_result = mysqli_query($conn, $query);
while ($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($query_result)) {
echo $row['value'];
}
?>
I have tried switching '$q' with $q and that doesn't work. If I substitute the hospital name directly into the query, the SQL query and PHP output code works so I know that's not the problem unless for some reason it uses different logic with a variable when connecting to the database and executing the query.
Thank you in advance.
Edit: I'll go ahead and post more of my actual code instead of just the problem areas since unfortunately none of the answers provided have worked. I am trying to print out a "Case ID" that is the primary key tied to a patient. I am using a REDCap clinical database and their table structure is a little different than normal relational databases. My code is as follows:
<?php
$q = 'Hospital_Name';
$query = "SELECT * FROM database.table WHERE field_name = 'case_id' AND record in (SELECT distinct record FROM database.table WHERE field_name = 'hospital_name' AND value = '$q')";
$query_result = mysqli_query($conn, $query);
while ($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($query_result)) {
echo $row['value'];
}
?>
I have tried substituting $q with '$q' and '".$q."' and none of those print out the case_id that I need. I also tried using the mysqli_stmt_* functions but they printed nothing but blank as well. Our server uses PHP version 5.3.3 if that is helpful.
Thanks again.
Do it like so
<?php
$q = 'mercy_west';
$query = "SELECT col1,col2,col3,col4 FROM database.table WHERE field_name = 'hospital_name' AND value = ?";
if($stmt = $db->query($query)){
$stmt->bind_param("s",$q); // s is for string, i for integer, number of these must match your ? marks in query. Then variable you're binding is the $q, Must match number of ? as well
$stmt->execute();
$stmt->bind_result($col1,$col2,$col3,$col4); // Can initialize these above with $col1 = "", but these bind what you're selecting. If you select 5 times, must have 5 variables, and they go in in order. select id,name, bind_result($id,name)
$stmt->store_result();
while($stmt->fetch()){ // fetch the results
echo $col1;
}
$stmt->close();
}
?>
Yes mysql_real_escape_string() is deprecated.
One solution, as hinted by answers like this one in that post you included a link to, is to use prepared statements. MySQLi and PDO both support binding parameters with prepared statements.
To continue using the mysqli_* functions, use:
mysqli_prepare() to get a prepared statement
mysqli_stmt_bind_param() to bind the parameter (e.g. for the WHERE condition value='$q')
mysqli_stmt_execute() to execute the statement
mysqli_stmt_bind_result() to send the output to a variable.
<?php
$q = 'Hospital_Name';
$query = "SELECT value FROM database.table WHERE field_name = 'hospital_name' AND value = ?";
$statement = mysqli_prepare($conn, $query);
//Bind parameter for $q; substituted for first ? in $query
//first parameter: 's' -> string
mysqli_stmt_bind_param($statement, 's', $q);
//execute the statement
mysqli_stmt_execute($statement);
//bind an output variable
mysqli_stmt_bind_result($stmt, $value);
while ( mysqli_stmt_fetch($stmt)) {
echo $value; //print the value from each returned row
}
If you consider using PDO, look at bindparam(). You will need to determine the parameters for the PDO constructor but then can use it to get prepared statements with the prepare() method.

mysqli prepared statement without bind_param

I have this code for selecting fname from the latest record on the user table.
$mysqli = new mysqli(HOST, USER, PASSWORD, DATABASE);
$sdt=$mysqli->('SELECT fname FROM user ORDER BY id DESC LIMIT 1');
$sdt->bind_result($code);
$sdt->fetch();
echo $code ;
I used prepared statement with bind_param earlier, but for now in the above code for first time I want to use prepared statement without binding parameters and I do not know how to select from table without using bind_param(). How to do that?
If, like in your case, there is nothing to bind, then just use query()
$res = $mysqli->query('SELECT fname FROM user ORDER BY id DESC LIMIT 1');
$fname = $res->fetch_row()[0] ?? false;
But if even a single variable is going to be used in the query, then you must substitute it with a placeholder and therefore prepare your query.
However, in 2022 and beyond, (starting PHP 8.1) you can indeed skip bind_param even for a prepared query, sending variables directly to execute(), in the form of array:
$query = "SELECT * FROM `customers` WHERE `Customer_ID`=?";
$stmt = $db->prepare($query);
$stmt->execute([$_POST['ID']]);
$result = $stmt->get_result();
$row = $result->fetch_assoc();
The answer ticked is open to SQL injection. What is the point of using a prepared statement and not correctly preparing the data. You should never just put a string in the query line. The point of a prepared statement is that it is prepared. Here is one example
$query = "SELECT `Customer_ID`,`CompanyName` FROM `customers` WHERE `Customer_ID`=?";
$stmt = $db->prepare($query);
$stmt->bind_param('i',$_POST['ID']);
$stmt->execute();
$stmt->bind_result($id,$CompanyName);
In Raffi's code you should do this
$bla = $_POST['something'];
$mysqli = new mysqli(HOST, USER, PASSWORD, DATABASE);
$stmt = $mysqli->prepare("SELECT `fname` FROM `user` WHERE `bla` = ? ORDER BY `id` DESC LIMIT 1");
$stmt->bind_param('s',$_POST['something']);
$stmt->execute();
$stmt->bind_result($code);
$stmt->fetch();
echo $code;
Please be aware I don't know if your post data is a string or an integer. If it was an integer you would put
$stmt->bind_param('i',$_POST['something']);
instead. I know you were saying without bind param, but trust me that is really really bad if you are taking in input from a page, and not preparing it correctly first.

PDO - passing a field name as a variable

I'm just migrating my code from mysql_query style commands to PDO style and I ran into a problem. THe old code looked like this :
$query_list_menu = "SELECT ".$_GET['section_name']." from myl_menu_hide_show WHERE id='".$_GET['id']."'";
And the updated code looks like below. Apparently it's not working. I store in $_GET['section_name'] a string that represents a field name from the database. But I think there is a problem when I pass it as a variable. Is the below code valid ? Thanks.
$query_list_menu = "SELECT :section_name from myl_menu_hide_show WHERE id=:id";
$result_list_menu = $db->prepare($query_list_menu);
$result_list_menu->bindValue(':section_name', $_GET['section_name'] , PDO::PARAM_STR);
$result_list_menu->bindValue(':id', $_GET['id'] , PDO::PARAM_INT);
$result_list_menu->execute();
If $_GET['section_name'] contains a column name, your query should be:
$query_list_menu = "SELECT " . $_GET['section_name'] . " from myl_menu_hide_show WHERE id=:id";
Giving:
$query_list_menu = "SELECT :section_name from myl_menu_hide_show WHERE id=:id";
$result_list_menu = $db->prepare($query_list_menu);
$result_list_menu->bindValue(':id', $_GET['id'] , PDO::PARAM_INT);
$result_list_menu->execute();
The reason is that you want the actual name of the column to be in the query - you'd changed it to be a parameter, which doesn't really make much sense.
I'll also add that using $_GET['section_name'] directly like this is a massive security risk as it allows for SQL injection. I suggest that you validate the value of $_GET['section_name'] by checking it against a list of columns before building and executing the query.
There is no good and safe way to select just one field from the record based on the user's choice. The most sensible solution would be to select the whole row and then return the only field requested
$sql = "SELECT * from myl_menu_hide_show WHERE id=?";
$stmt = $db->prepare($query_list_menu);
$stmt->execute([$_GET['id']]);
$row = $stmt->fetch();
return $row[$_GET['section_name']] ?? false;

mySQLi Prepared Statement Select with Escape Characters

I am trying to select from a mySQL table using prepared statements. The select critera is user form input, so I am binding this variable and using prepared statements. Below is the code:
$sql_query = "SELECT first_name_id from first_names WHERE first_name = ?";
$stmt = $_SESSION['mysqli']->prepare($sql_query);
$stmt->bind_param('s', $_SESSION['first_name']);
$stmt->execute();
$stmt->store_result();
if ($stmt->num_rows == '1') {
$stmt->bind_result($_SESSION['first_name_id']);
$stmt->fetch();
} else {
$stmt->close();
$sql_query = "INSERT INTO first_names (first_name) VALUES (?)";
$stmt = $_SESSION['mysqli']->prepare($sql_query);
$stmt->bind_param('s', $_SESSION['first_name']);
$stmt->execute();
$_SESSION['first_name_id'] = $_SESSION['mysqli']->insert_id;
}
$stmt->close();
Obviously my code is just determining whether or not the first_name already exists in the first_names table. If it does, it returns the corresponding ID (first_name_id). Otherwise, the code inserts the new first_name into the first_names table and gets the insert_id.
The problem is when a user enters a name with an escape character ('Henry's). Not really likely with first names but certainly employers. When this occurs, the code does not execute (no select or insert activity in the log files). So it seems like mySQL is ignoring the code due to an escape character in the variable.
How can I fix this issue? Is my code above efficient and correct for the task?
Issue #2. The code then continues with another insert or update, as shown in the code below:
if (empty($_SESSION['personal_id'])) {
$sql_query = "INSERT INTO personal_info (first_name_id, start_timestamp) VALUES (?, NOW())";
} else {
$sql_query = "UPDATE personal_info SET first_name_id = ? WHERE personal_info = '$_SESSION[personal_id]'";
}
$stmt = $_SESSION['mysqli']->prepare($sql_query);
$stmt->bind_param('i', $_SESSION['first_name_id']);
$stmt->execute();
if (empty($_SESSION['personal_id'])) {
$_SESSION['personal_id'] = $_SESSION['mysqli']->insert_id;
}
$stmt->close();
The issue with the code above is that I cannot get it to work at all. I am not sure if there is some conflict with the first part of the script, but I have tried everything to get it to work. There are no PHP errors and there are no inserts or updates showing in the mySQL log files from this code. It appears that the bind_param line in the code may be where the script is dying...
Any help would be very much appreciated.
you should validate/escape user input before sending it to the db.
checkout this mysql-real-escape-string()

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