I am trying to refer to a column name to order a query in an application communicating with an Oracle database. I want to use a bind variable so that I can dynamically change what to order the query by.
The problem that I am having is that the database seems to be ignoring the order by column.
Does anyone know if there is a particular way to refer to a database column via a bind variable or if it is even possible?
e.g my query is
SELECT * FROM PERSON ORDER BY :1
(where :1 will be bound to PERSON.NAME)
The query is not returning results in alphabetical order, I am worried that the database is interpreting this as:-
SELECT * FROM PERSON ORDER BY 'PERSON.NAME'
which will obviously not work.
Any suggestions are much appreciated.
No. You cannot use bind variables for table or column names.
This information is needed to create the execution plan. Without knowing what you want to order by, it would be impossible to figure out what index to use, for example.
Instead of bind variables, you have to directly interpolate the column name into the SQL statement when your program creates it. Assuming that you take precautions against SQL injection, there is no downside to that.
Update: If you really wanted to jump through hoops, you could probably do something like
order by decode(?, 'colA', colA, 'colB', colB)
but that is just silly. And slow. Don't.
As you are using JDBC. You can rewrite your code, to something without bind variables. This way you can also dynamically change the order-by e.g.:
String query = "SELECT * FROM PERS ";
if (condition1){
query = query+ " order by name ";
// insert more if/else or case statements
} else {
query = query+ " order by other_column ";
}
Statement select = conn.createStatement();
ResultSet result = select.executeQuery(query);
Or even:
String columnName = getColumnName(input);
Statement select = conn.createStatement();
ResultSet result = select.executeQuery("SELECT * FROM PERS ORDER BY "+columnName);
ResultSet result = select.executeQuery(
"SELECT * FROM PERS ORDER BY " + columnName
);
will always be a new statement to the database.
That means it is, like Thilo already explained, impossible to "reorder" an already bound, calculated, prepared, parsed statement. When using this result set over and over in your application and the only thing, which changes over time is the order of the presentation, try to order the set in your client code.
Otherwise, dynamic SQL is fine, but comes with a huge footprint.
Related
Okay, basically I have a table that contains statements like:
incident.client_category = 1
incident.client_category = 8
incident.severity = 1
etc.
I would like to use the contents from this table to generate other tables that fulfill the conditions expressed in this one. So I would need to make it something like
SELECT * FROM incident WHERE incident.client_category = 1
But the last part of the where has to come from the first table. Right now what I'm trying to do is something like
SELECT * FROM incident WHERE (SELECT condition FROM condition WHERE id = 1)
id = 1 stands for the condition's id. Right now I only want to work with ONE condition for testing purposes. Is there a way to achieve this? Because if there isn't, I might have to just parse the first query's results through PHP into my incident query.
Table schemas:
Engineering Suggestion - Normalize the DB
Storing a WHERE clause, like id = 10, in a field in a MySQL table, is not a good idea. I recommend taking a look at MySQL Normalization. You shouldn't store id = 10 as a varchar, but rather, you should store something like OtherTableid. This allows you to use indices, to optimize your DB, and to get a ton of other features that you are deprived of by using fields as WHERE clauses.
But sometimes we need a solution asap, and we can't re-engineer everything! So let's take a look at making one...
Solution
Here is a solution that will work even on very old, v. 5.0 versions of MySQL. Set the variable using SET, prepare a statement using PREPARE, and execute it using EXECUTE. Let's set our query into a variable...
SET #query = CONCAT(
"SELECT * FROM incident WHERE ",
(SELECT condition FROM condition WHERE id = 1)
);
I know for a fact that this should work, because the following definitely works for me on my system (which doesn't require building any new tables or schema changes)...
SET #query = CONCAT("SELECT id FROM myTable WHERE id = ", (SELECT MAX(id) FROM myTable));
If I SELECT #query;, I get: SELECT id FROM myTable WHERE id = 1737901. Now, all we need to do is run this query!
PREPARE stmt1 FROM #query;
EXECUTE stmt1;
DEALLOCATE PREPARE stmt1;
Here we use a prepare to build the query, execute to execute it, and deallocate to be ready for the next prepared statement. On my own example above, which can be tested by anyone without DB schema changes, I got good, positive results: EXECUTE stmt1; gives me...
| id | 1737901 | .
here is one way to achieve your goal by using what is called dynamic sql, be ware that this works only select from condition table returns only one record.
declare #SQLSTRING varchar(4000)
, #condition VARCHAR(500) -- change the size to whatever condition column size is
SELECT #condition = condition
FROM
condition
WHERE
id = 1
SET #SQLSTRING= 'SELECT * FROM incident WHERE ' + #condition
exec sp_executesql(#SQLSTRING)
Since you have also tagged the question with PHP, I would suggest using that. Simply select the string from the condition table and use the result to build up a SQL query (as a string in PHP) including it. Then run the second query. Psudo-code (skipping over what library/framework you re using to call the db):
$query = "select condition from condition where id = :id";
$condition = callDbAndReturnString($query, $id);
$query = "select * from incident where " . $condition;
$result = callDb($query);
However, be very careful. Where and how are you populating the possible values in the condition table? Even how is your user choosing which one to use? You run the risk of opening yourself up to a secondary SQL injection attack if you allow the user to generate values and store them there. Since you are using the value from the condition table as a string, you cannot parametrise the query using it as you (hopefully!) normally would. Depending on the queries you run and the possible values there as conditions, there might also be risk even if you just let them pick from a pre-built list. I would seriously ask myself if this (saving parts of SQL queries as strings in another table) is the best approach. But, if you decide it is, this should work.
I'm trying to update a mysql database with data I fetched. (btw I need to do this for specific individual items, but that's not the problem.) When it comes to creating separate statements for fetching or updating I can do that. Separately, I'm able to fetch data like this:
$query = "SELECT starting_amount FROM comp ORDER BY item DESC LIMIT 3, 1";
$result = $conn->query($query);
$row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result);
and I'm able to update data like this:
$sql = "UPDATE comp SET final_amount=25 WHERE item='Y'";
but I can't put the two together (I tried several ways and failed). In other words, I am able to update a table record with data that I manually type, e.g. I type "25" manually in the update statement, which in this example is the data from 'staring_amount', but I don't know how to update with a statement that will automatically use data I fetch from the table. Again in other words, how do I write the update statement so that "SET final_amount=" is followed by fetched data? Thanks in advance for any help!
So, you just need to pass your fetched data into the query
$starting_amount = $row['starting_amount'];
$sql = "UPDATE comp SET final_amount=$starting_amount WHERE item='Y'";
Firstly, I highly recommend looking into prepared statements - using a prepared statement to insert data is an easy way to prevent SQL injection attacks and also will make what you want to do a little easier.
Here's an example of a prepared update statement using mysqli based on your example:
$statement = $conn->prepare("UPDATE comp SET final_amount=? WHERE item='Y'")
$statement->bind_param(25);
I'll assume for this answer that you want to use just the first row of the resultset.
Using your example above, you can replace the value in bind_param with a value from your row.
$statement->bind_param($row['starting_amount']);
There's no need to do them as separate statements, since you can join queries in an UPDATE.
UPDATE comp AS c1
JOIN (SELECT starting_amount
FROM comp
ORDER BY item DESC
LIMIT 3, 1) AS c2
SET c1.final_amount = c2.starting_amount
WHERE c1.item = 'Y'
I think the answer to this may be simple, but being new to SQL I am still growing. Here's my dilemma. I have a php array of options with 10 values. When any one option is selected it is passed into a variable named "spots". I have 10 SQL SELECT statements that pull 1 of 10 different tables. The issue is that I do not know exactly what to do in order to get the SQL to recognize which value was selected and based on which was selected show that specific table data. (This would be easy if I were able to use the JavaScript Switch statement, but I do not know an equivalent for that)
EXAMPLE:
PHP
$spots = ["Report1","Report2","Report3","Report4","Report5","Report6","Report7","Report8","Report9","Report10"];
SQL
SELECT *, FROM Report5
ORDER BY TW ASC;
Now how do I get SQL to loop through an array to find a match, then depending on that match select from a list of commands (for example like a JavaScript switch statement)?
Use variable substitution:
foreach ($spots as $spot) {
$sql = "SELECT * FROM $spot ORDER BY TW ASC";
// perform the SQL query using $sql, do what you want with the results
}
Make sure you've validated that the values in $spots are valid if they're coming from the user. Otherwise you'll be subjecting your code to SQL injection.
I am trying to display the data from 'table' if a key inputted by the user is found in the database. Currently I have it set up so that the database checks if the key exists, like so:
//Select all from table if a key entry that matches the user specified key exists
$sql = 'SELECT * FROM `table` WHERE EXISTS(SELECT * FROM `keys` WHERE `key` = :key)';
//Prepare the SQL query
$query = $db->prepare($sql);
//Substitute the :key placeholder for the $key variable specified by the user
$query->execute(array(':key' => $key));
//While fetched data from the query exists. While $r is true
while($r = $query->fetch(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC)) {
//Debug: Display the data
echo $r['data'] . '<br>';
}
These aren't the only SQL statements in the program that are required. Later, an INSERT query along with possibly another SELECT query need to be made.
Now, to my understanding, using WHERE EXISTS isn't always efficient. However, would it be more efficient to split the query into two separate statements and just have PHP check if any rows are returned when looking for a matching key?
I took a look at a similar question, however it compares multiple statements on a much larger scale, as opposed to a single statement vs a single condition.
#MarkBaker Join doesn't have to be faster than exists statement. Query optymalizer is able to rewrite the query live if it sees better way to accomplish query. Exists statement is more readable than join.
Fetching all the data and making filtering directly in PHP is always bad idea. What if your table grow up to milions of records? MySQL is going to find the best execute plan for you. It will automaticaly cache the query if it is going to improve performance.
In other words, your made everything correctly as far as we can see your code now. For futher analyse show us all of your queries.
Instead of hard coding sql queries like Select * from users where user_id =220202 can these be made dynamic like Select * from $users where $user_id = $input.
Reason i ask is when changes are needed to table/column names i can just update it in one place and don't have to ask developers to go line by line to find all references to update. It is very time consuming. And I do not like the idea of exposing database stuff in the code.
My major concern is load time. Like with dynamic pages, the database has to fetch the page content, same way if queries are dynamic first system has to lookup the references then execute the queries, so does it impact load times?
I am using codeignitor PHP.
If it is possible then the next question is where to store all the references? In the app, in a file, in the DB, and how?
---EDIT:
Even better: Can the SQL query itself be made dynamic? I can just reference $sqlA instead of the whole query? This way if I have to re-write the query I can just update 1 file.
Because you are using Codeigniter, I would reccomend utilizing the Active Record Class to accomplish what you are trying to do.
The active record class enables you to build queries dynamically in steps allowing you to build them logically. So to take your example using active record...
( this could be accomplished with less code, I'm just trying to illustrate Active Record )
$this->db->select('*');
$this->db->from($table);
$this->db->where($user_id, $input);
and so to show what I mean about building the query logically, you can build whatever logic you want INTO the query building process. Lets say you have a $limit variable that you set if you want to limit the number of results you get. BUT if it isn't set (or NULL) you don't want to set the limit clause.
if ( $isset($limit) ) {
$this->db->limit($limit);
}
and now to execute your query now that it has been built
$query = $this->db->get();
Then just deal with $query with your database class just like you would any other CodeIgniter query object.
Of course you can, if that's what you wish. I'd rather recommend you taking more time to design you database but changes in the schema are inevitable in the long run.
I don't think load time would be an issue with this because ussually the bottleneck in this applications is in the database.
Finally my recommendation is to save this in a file just by declaring the column names as php variables
It depends on the database driver(s) you are using. The old PHP database drivers did not support placeholders (PHP 3.x). The modern (PDO) ones do. You write the SQL with question marks:
SELECT * FROM Users WHERE User_ID = ?
You then provide the value of the user ID when you execute the query.
However, you cannot provide the column name like this - only values. But you could prepare a statement from a string such as:
SELECT * FROM Users WHERE $user_id = ?
Then you provide the value at execute time.
mysql_query() takes a string and it doesn't need to be a constant string, it can be a variable.
$SQL = "SELECT foo FROM bar b";
SQLSet = mysql_query($SQL);
Aa you can see, you can use ordinary string manipulation to build your whole SQL query.
$SQL="SELECT * FROM MyTable";
$BuzID = 5;
$Filter = "Buz=".$BuzID;
if (is_numeric($BuzID)) SQL .= " WHERE ".$Filter;
SQLSet = mysql_query($SQL);
This will expand to "SELECT * FROM MyTable WHERE Buz=5" if $BuzID is set to any number.
If not the statement will just be "SELECT * FROM MyTable"
As you can see, you can build very complex SQL statements on the fly without need of variable support in the SQL server.
IF you want constants such as database name, user login, you can but them in a separate include located outside the public directory.
SecretStuff.inc.php
$__DatabaseName = "localhost";
$__UserName = "DatabaseAccess";
$__Password = "E19A4F72B4AA091C6D2";
Or have the whole PHP database connection code in the same file.