PHP MYSQL CREATE TABLE Issue

Question

What's wrong with the following code:

$table = $email . "Entries";
$query = "CREATE TABLE ".$table."(FirstName varchar(15),LastName varchar(15),Age int)";

I want to create a table whose name is dynamic based on a posted variable. The above doesn't work however. I have also tried:

$query = "CREATE TABLE $table(FirstName varchar(15),LastName varchar(15),Age int)";

Any Ideas?

What error are you getting? Use mysql_error() to see what error MySQL is returning. — Dirk
– Dirk, Commented Jul 27, 2011 at 19:37
make sure to catch if ur trying to create tables with the same name — raym0nd
– raym0nd, Commented Jul 27, 2011 at 19:38
The method you are using look as though it is wide open to SQL injection. Are you escaping $email before using it? Is it really necessary to create a table from a posted value, or could another more secure method be used? — Mike
– Mike, Commented Jul 27, 2011 at 19:41
Any reason you're creating a table to store what would seem to be just one record? Why not a single table with email,FirstName,LastName,Age fields? — Marc B
– Marc B, Commented Jul 27, 2011 at 19:48

Michael Berkowski · Accepted Answer · 2011-07-27 19:43:02Z

3

I cannot find the relevant documentation, but would assume that if $email contains an @ this would be an invalid table name in MySQL.

CREATE TABLE [email protected] (FirstName varchar(15),LastName varchar(15),Age int)

If this is the case, try enclosing the table name in backticks:

$query = "CREATE TABLE `$table` (FirstName varchar(15),LastName varchar(15),Age int)";

answered Jul 27, 2011 at 19:37

Michael Berkowski

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3 Comments

Or a space or any number of other invalid characters. @user559142 - what sort of validation are you performing on the input?

MySQL Docs you were referring to. @ is only valid in backticks.

@cularis Thank you. I was searching for "identifiers" rather than "object names"

Anush · Accepted Answer · 2011-07-27 19:42:44Z

0

$query = "CREATE TABLE $table(FirstName varchar(15),LastName varchar(15),Age int)"; I am not too sure if you can have "@" in the name of a table....

answered Jul 27, 2011 at 19:42

Anush

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