Cannot use query function in pset8 for search.php

Question

Array declared:

$names = array("country_code", "postal_code", "place_name", "admin_name1", "admin_code1", "admin_name2", "admin_code2", "admin_name3", "admin_code3");    

for ($i = 0; $i < 9; $i++)
{
    $current = $names[$i];
    $results = query("SELECT * from places WHERE country_code LIKE ?", $piece);
    $results = query("SELECT * from places WHERE ? LIKE ?", $current, $piece);
...
}

But the first query would select data from the table whereas the second query wouldn't. Is there any reason why is that, and is it possible to fix it? By the way $piece is just the a part of the $_GET (such as US from Cambridge,+MA+US).

Answer 1

I hope you have gotten past this by now, but I'll chip in my 2¢. You and the computer are not seeing eye-to-eye. $string is something like:

'SELECT * from places WHEREcountry_codeLIKE %GB%'

May not be what you meant, but it's what you said.

It's a bad idea to put additional print statements in search.php because the next thing you know nothing works. Been there, done that. Here's something I used to troubleshoot a very similar problem. Added code like this to search.php

$dbg = isset($_GET["dbg"]);
    .
    .
    .
    if ($dbg)
    {
        print(json_encode($your_data_here, JSON_PRETTY_PRINT));
    }

Then browse to pset8/search.php?geo=xxxxx&dbg=1

Or maybe it's a simple as: $piece not quoted (to get '%GB%').

I don't know what all the ramifications are, but the query function might be improved by a simple var_dump($sql) before the call(s) to trigger_error.