Question

Is it possible to select data with a single query from a mysql table with a string of values? I have the following query and am trying to retrive results where the c.id_category is not equal to any of the values in the string.
which would consist of something like “1,67,23,34,65”

   'SELECT DISTINCT c.*, 
          cl.*
     FROM `'._DB_PREFIX_.'category` c 
LEFT JOIN `'._DB_PREFIX_.'category_lang` cl ON (c.`id_category` = cl.`id_category` 
                                           AND `id_lang` = '.intval($params['cookie']->id_lang).')
LEFT JOIN `'._DB_PREFIX_.'category_group` cg ON (cg.`id_category` = c.`id_category`)
    WHERE 1'.(intval($maxdepth) != 0 ? ' 
      AND `level_depth` <= '.intval($maxdepth) : '').'
      AND (c.`active` = 1 OR c.`id_category`= 1)
      AND c.`id_category` != VAR_ARRAY
      AND cg.`id_group` '.(!$cookie->id_customer ?  '= 1' : 'IN (SELECT id_group 
                                                                   FROM '._DB_PREFIX_.'customer_group 
                                                                  WHERE id_customer = '.intval($cookie->id_customer).')').'
 ORDER BY `level_depth` ASC, cl.`name` ASC'

Answer 1

Something like:
SELECT * FROM Foo WHERE bar NOT IN (1,67,23,34,65);
sounds like it would fit your needs.