Proper mySQL syntax for DELETE, FROM, WHERE

Question

I have a database with a table with 18 columns, the second of which is called "desc". I want to delete every row that has a certain value under "desc". I'm using this code:

DELETE FROM items WHERE desc='Swap this note at any bank for the equivalent item.'

Using this command inside of PHPMYADMIN gives me this error:

#1064 - 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 'desc='Swap this note at any bank for the equivalent item.'' at line 1

I've looked around pretty well but I can't seem to find what I'm doing incorrectly.

mySQL version is 5.5, phpMyAdmin version is 3.4.5.

D'Arcy Rittich · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-30 02:32:29Z

5

You'll need to use backticks around desc as it is the keyword for descending order when using ORDER BY:

DELETE FROM items 
WHERE `desc`='Swap this note at any bank for the equivalent item.'

answered Jan 30, 2012 at 2:32

D'Arcy Rittich

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2 Comments

taylorthurlow Over a year ago

Worked perfectly, I didn't see that. Thanks for your help. I'm not getting any rows deleted, but the syntax is fine so I'm going to see what I did wrong otherwise. Thanks for the solution.

taylorthurlow Over a year ago

I was using a single apostrophe, despite you saying back tick. Works fine now. Thanks for the solution.

Aditya Naidu · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-30 02:33:47Z

0

Notice the back ticks. desc is a keyword in MySQL

DELETE FROM items WHERE `desc`='Swap this note at any bank for the equivalent item.'

answered Jan 30, 2012 at 2:33

Aditya Naidu

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Comments

John Woo · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-30 02:37:58Z

0

desc is a RESERVED WORD in MySQL

in order to escape Reserved Words, you must use back tick ( ` )

DELETE FROM `items` 
WHERE `desc`='Swap this note at any bank for the equivalent item.'

answered Jan 30, 2012 at 2:37

John Woo

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