MySQL Insert syntax error - Cant find it! - php

Question

There's gotta be something small I keep missing here, but I can't find it for the life of me.
$insert = mysql_query("INSERT INTO USERS
(`FBID`, `FIRST_NAME`, `LAST_NAME`, `GENDER`)
VALUES ('$fbid', '$firstName', '$lastName', '$gender')");
The error is:
Error: 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 '1' at line 1
Any ideas?

Answer 1

You are not having variables correctly escaped. Use mysql_real_escape_string and code like this:
$insert = mysql_query("INSERT INTO USERS (`FBID`, `FIRST_NAME`, `LAST_NAME`, `GENDER`)
VALUES (
'".mysql_real_escape_string($fbid)."',
'".mysql_real_escape_string($firstName)."',
'".mysql_real_escape_string($lastName)."',
'".mysql_real_escape_string($gender)."'
)");
If the variables contain any quotes, they create the problem if you don't properly escape them.

Answer 2

Do any of your names contain single quotes?
Try writing out the value of the query to log/console/debug to ensure that it's what you expect.

Answer 3

Try wrapping your variables in {}.
'{$fbid}', '{$firstName}', '{$lastName}', '{$gender}'
Otherwise you are going to have to use string concatenation.
'".$fbid."','".$firstName."','"...
I'm assuming your variables already contain proper escaped data.

Answer 4

Try doing it like this:
$sql = <<EOL
INSERT INTO USERS (`FBID`, `FIRST_NAME`, `LAST_NAME`, `GENDER`)
VALUES ('$fbid', '$firstName', '$lastName', '$gender')
EOL;
$stmt = mysql_query($sql) or die("MySQL error: " . mysql_error());
This will preserve the query for you in $sql so you can echo it out elsewhere and see what was actually produced.