Insert Into Mysql DB - php

Question

I am having a small issue with some coding of mine. For some reason my entries aren't dropping in my DB. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Here is my code...
<?php
$dbhost="localhost";
$dbname="DBNAME";
$dbuser="USER";
$dbpasswd="PASSWORD"; // connect to the db
$dbcxn = mysqli_connect($dbhost, $dbuser, $dbpasswd);
if (!$dbcxn) {
die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
}
$db_selected = mysqli_select_db($dbcxn, $dbname);
if (!$db_selected) {
die ('Can\'t use dbreviews : ' . mysql_error());
}
$query = "INSERT INTO entries ( submitterFirstName, submitterLastName, submitterPhone, submitterEmail, referredFirstName, referredLastName, referredPhone, referredEmail, referredReason)
VALUES ('$submitterFirstName', '$submitterLastName', '$submitterPhone', '$submitterEmail', '$referredFirstName', '$referredLastName', '$referredPhone', '$referredEmail', '$referredProject')";
$result=mysqli_query($dbcxn, $query);
?>

Answer 1

The first thing you want to check is echo the query back to yourself and read it over.
Second, check the table structure. Make sure the column names are all spelled correctly and that all fields exist in your table (I've accidently forgotten to add a column before).
Third, you may or may not receive error messages depending on your configuration. But, you can manually check.
if (!$result) {
echo mysqli_error($dbcxn);
}

Answer 2

First thing first should be code formatting, it will help you read the code and consequently find your errors easier.
$query = "
INSERT INTO
entries
(
submitterFirstName,
submitterLastName,
submitterPhone,
submitterEmail,
referredFirstName,
" .
"referredLastName,
referredPhone,
referredEmail,
referredReason
)
" .
" VALUES
(
'$submitterFirstName',
'$submitterLastName',
'$submitterPhone',
' $submitterEmail',
'$referredFirstName'," .
"'$referredLastName',
'$referredPhone',
'$referredEmail',
'$referredProject'
);
"
The above is your query string split onto several lines, there are some errors which should be evident straight away? Once formatted I would do echo $query and view the output of $query.
Also try seeing if you can do an insert without using php (using mysql workbench, php admin etc) then compare it with the string value you have set as $query.
// less errors, please note that inside "" you can include php $vars without needing to escape.
$query = "
INSERT INTO
entries
(
submitterFirstName,
submitterLastName,
submitterPhone,
submitterEmail,
referredFirstName,
referredLastName,
referredPhone,
referredEmail,
referredReason
)
VALUES
(
'$submitterFirstName',
'$submitterLastName',
'$submitterPhone',
'$submitterEmail',
'$referredFirstName',
'$referredLastName',
'$referredPhone',
'$referredEmail',
'$referredProject'
);
";

Answer 3

Change your query variable to:
$query = "INSERT INTO entries " .
"( submitterFirstName, submitterLastName, submitterPhone, submitterEmail, referredFirstName, " .
" referredLastName, referredPhone, referredEmail, referredReason )" .
" VALUES ('" .
$submitterFirstName . "', '" .
$submitterLastName . "', '" .
$submitterPhone . "', '" .
$submitterEmail . "', '" .
$referredFirstName . "', '" .
$referredLastName . "', '" .
$referredPhone . "', '" .
$referredEmail . "', '" .
$referredProject . "')";
and it should be working.
Suggesting to use mysqli prepare