What is not valid about this MySQL syntax for CASE WHEN? - php

Question

I'm trying to use the CASE WHEN statement, but it doesn't seem to work. Is there any change that I can make to this in order to make it work, or is it completely wrong?
"CASE
WHEN (a != '1' AND b != '1' AND c != '1' AND d != '1' AND e != '1') WHERE id = :id
THEN UPDATE table SET f = 0 WHERE f = 1
WHEN (a != '1' AND b != '1' AND c != '1' AND d != '1' AND e != '1') WHERE id = :id
THEN UPDATE table SET f = 1 WHERE id = :id
ELSE f
END"
I really can't figure this out, and I have tried looking for an answer in different places, but I can't find something similar. Thanks.
Edit:
This is not part of a SELECT statement. I have six columns and one unique id for each row. What I want, is that each row only have one of its columns set to 1, at a time. If a row has already one column set to 1, then you can't set another of its columns to 1. Also, if one column is already set to one in one row, then the same column can't be set to 1 in another row. So I guess that I want it to be mutually exclusive, both vertically and horizontally, hence why both WHEN statements are the same, the first one so that all previous rows that had a 1 in that column will be reseted to 0, before assigning the 1 to the specific chosen column (by id). I placed a WHERE inside the CASE statement because I thought you could do that, judging by the comments, I guess not.
That's the full query, I am using prepared statements, and before that, I had this:
$q = $con->query("UPDATE table SET f=0 WHERE f=1");
$q = $con->prepare("UPDATE table SET f=1 WHERE id = :id");
$q->execute(array('id' => "$id"));
I'm really a beginner with MySQL, so maybe my solution is laughable, and I'm sorry for that. I hope I could explain clearly what I want to do. I don't know where to find the error log, but after posting this, I'm looking for it, and will add a further update. So far I can tell you that I don't know if there's an error (but I'm pretty sure there is, judging by the replies), but what I can tell you is that upon executing the query, it does nothing.
Edit2:
Here's the error that I get when using the query that I posted:
SQLSTATE[42000]: Syntax error or access violation: 1064 You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near 'CASE WHEN ...'
I'm trying other solutions...
Edit3:
Hello, I've managed to find a way to do what I was trying to do. I couldn't do it using only the CASE THEN syntax, and in fact I had to write a whole lot of new code (and queries), so I'm guessing that what I did is NOT the simplest way (and definitely not that fast), and I'm pretty sure it's doable with just one query, if so, the answer is appreciated, and I'm thankful with all of you who tried to help! Apparently I didn't explain myself well. I tried the code you all suggested, and it all works (there's one exception with someone's code, which I'll clarify), but it doesn't serve my purpose. Anyway, here's what I did:
$q = $con->prepare("SELECT id FROM table WHERE f = 1"); //Find the id of the row that has already f = 1
$q->bindColumn(1, $prev_id); //store as $prev_id, it might be useful later
$q->execute();
$q->fetch();
$q = $con->query("UPDATE table SET f = 0 WHERE f = 1"); //Reset row to f = 0
$q = $con->prepare("
UPDATE table
SET f = CASE WHEN (a != '1' AND b != '1' AND c != '1' AND d != '1' AND e != '1')
THEN '1'
ELSE f //The original query, IF
END //selected row != 1 on every other
WHERE id = :id //column, then f = 1 on selected id
"); //else, keep previous state (f = 0)
$q->execute(array('id' => "$id"));
$q = $con->prepare("SELECT f FROM table WHERE id = :id");
$q->bindColumn(1, $last_value);
$q->execute(array('id' => "$id")); //Get value of f on last modified id (from previous
$q->fetch(); //query) and store it
if($last_value == 0) //if f = 0, it means the selected id was not modified.
{ //Then, restore f = 1 on the row that previously had it
$q = $con->prepare("UPDATE table SET f = 1 WHERE id = :prev_id");
$q->execute(array('prev_id' => $prev_id));
}
Anyway, thanks to you all, I've learnt a lot today, and it's been fun. Still, I guess this is NOT the best way to do this, and if anyone comes up with a better answer, I'll appreciate it!

Answer 1

please check below:
UPDATE table
SET f =
CASE
WHEN (a != '1' AND b != '1' AND c != '1' AND d != '1' AND e != '1') THEN
0
WHEN (a != '1' AND b != '1' AND c != '1' AND d != '1' AND e != '1') THEN
1
ELSE f
END
WHERE ID = :id
But here both the WHEN clause condition are same.

Answer 2

this should work:
UPDATE table
SET f =
CASE
WHEN (a != '1' AND b != '1' AND c != '1' AND d != '1' AND e != '1' AND f = '1') THEN
0
WHEN (a != '1' AND b != '1' AND c != '1' AND d != '1' AND e != '1') THEN
1
ELSE f
END
WHERE ID = :id
The first When clause takes in account the OP's need to set f to 0 when f = 1.

Answer 3

It seems that you don't need an update when a, b, c, d, and e are not equal to 1. In which case, you can use a where clause on your update (and remove the WHERE from your CASE statement):
UPDATE table
SET f =
CASE
WHEN f = 1 THEN 0
ELSE 1
END
WHERE a != '1' AND b != '1' AND c != '1' AND d != '1' AND e != '1'
AND ID = :id;
There's no sense updating f to equal f, as there's no change.
Also, typically a CASE statement follows this format:
CASE
WHEN condition THEN result
WHEN condition THEN result
ELSE default_value
END
See http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/case.html (MySQL) and http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.2/static/functions-conditional.html (PostgreSQL).