php mysql delete from database

Question

Hey hello everyone,i have a slight problem with my small delete function in php,below is my code

function delete()
    {
    $q = "DELETE FROM example WHERE **author='frank'";**

    $r = mysql_query($q) or die (mysql_error());
    if($r)
    {
        echo 'done';
    }
    else
    {
        echo 'not done';
    }
    }

Now i don't have any author with that name Frank so that means it is not deleting anything from the database but still shows that done msg

I am not sure why????can anyone please help me

Needs more info. What does your example table contain? What data type is the author column? — Pekka
– Pekka, Commented May 16, 2011 at 16:20
mysql_query() returns a STATEMENT HANDLE if the query succeeded, or FALSE if there was an error. A query which does nothing is still considered a successful query, so unless your query has a syntax error or some other database error occurs, you will always get the handle. — Marc B
– Marc B, Commented May 16, 2011 at 16:23

onteria_ · Accepted Answer · 2011-05-16 16:21:40Z

5

That's because there was no error, delete did execute, it just didn't do anything. You want:

if(mysql_affected_rows() > 0) {
  echo "done";
}

answered May 16, 2011 at 16:21

onteria_

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Comments

Endophage · Accepted Answer · 2011-05-16 16:22:38Z

1

There is no error in your query. It will complete successfully. If you read the documentation you will see:

"For other type of SQL statements, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, DROP, etc, mysql_query() returns TRUE on success or FALSE on error."

As there is no error in your query it will return TRUE even though nothing has actually been deleted. Deleting nothing is not considered an error.

answered May 16, 2011 at 16:22

Endophage

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Comments

Eric Petroelje · Accepted Answer · 2011-05-16 16:22:14Z

0

A delete query will always succeed, even if no rows are actually deleted. If you want to determine how many rows were affected by an insert, update or delete operation, use mysql_affected_rows()

answered May 16, 2011 at 16:22

Eric Petroelje

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