Can MySQL query include HTML values? - php

Question

REVISED QUESTION:
How can I reference a row of MySQL data while a form is being filled out. In other words, with my ('Select * FROM... how can I specify the row to pull the fields from without having to process the form to get the PHP fields?
Desired Process 1) User inputs first value, 2) Sidebar MySQL query looks up that value and fills div with data from that row, 3) User continues to fill out form while able to see div filed with MySQL data
ORIGINAL QUESTION:
I am curious if you can include a reference to an HTML input in a MySQL query.
Take the following for an example.
('SELECT * FROM MyTableName WHERE MyColumnID="MyHTMLInputValue"');
I would like to reference all the fields in the row based on the value of an input field and not sure of how to reference such a query.
Thank you!

Answer 1

Ajax is the way to go.
This example uses jQuery.
First we need to setup a php script to get our value and search for it, then return our data.
PHP myPhpScript.php
<?php
$search_value = $_POST["field1"]; //Get our value from the post.
//Make sure to do some authentication on the value so that bad values dont get through
$connection = new mysqli(Stuff here);
$rows = $connection->query(
"SELECT * FROM someTable where searchColumn LIKE %".$search_value."%"
);
//Now all we need to do is send out our data. Lets use json.
$out = $rows[0];//Get the first row. NOTE: Make sure to remove any columns that you dont want the client to see.
echo json_encode($out); //Send the client the data.
?>
Javascript Some script on the page.
var textbox = $("#mySearchBox"); //This is the jQuery object for our text box.
var viewbox = $("#myViewer"); //This is the jQuery object for the div that holds the results
textbox.on("input", function () {
$.ajax({
url: "myPhpScript.php", //This is the php script that we made above.
method: "POST", //This set our method to POST.
data: {field1: textbox.val()}, //set the textbox value to field1
dataType: "json", //So jquery formats the json into an object.
success: function (phpDataObject) { //Now its up to you to decide what to do with the data. Example below
viewbox.html("");//Clear the viewbox.
viewbox.append("Id: "+phpDataObject["id"]); //Show the id of row that was found.
}
});
});
This code may not work. Just fix whatever syntax errors that show up.
Hope this helps.
Comment if you need any more help.

Answer 2

This does not sound like a good idea. Usually you want some separation between your site and database. You could take in "MyHTMLInputValue", process it, then you can complete your query.
var myValue = MyHTMLInputValue;
//validate input
('SELECT * FROM MyTableName WHERE MyColumnID="' + myValue + '"')