Question

namekey values
. .
. .
. .
username to be updated

#!/usr/bin/perl -w
# Use the DBI module

use  strict;
use warnings;
use DBI;

# CONFIG VARIABLES
my $platform = "mysql";
my $database = "prod";
my $host     = "localhost";
my $username = "root";
my $password = "admin";

# DATA SOURCE NAME
my $dsn = "dbi:$platform:$database:$host";

# PERL DBI CONNECT
my $connect = DBI->connect($dsn, $username, $password);

# VARS for Examples
my $query;
my $query_handle;
my $id;
my $demo;

# Example 2 using do() UPDATE   

# SAMPLE VARIABLE AND VALUES TO PASS INTO SQL STATEMENT
$id   = "username";
$name = "Arty";

# do() THE UPDATE
$query        = "UPDATE jos_config SET values = '$name' WHERE namekey = $id;";
$query_handle = $connect->prepare($query);

# EXECUTE THE UPDATE
$query_handle = $connect->do($query);

print STDERR "ERROR: $DBI::errstr";
print STDERR "INFO: $query_handle rows updated";

undef $query;

error message:

DBD::mysql::db do failed: 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 'values = 'Arty' WHERE namekey = smtp_username' at line 1 at /home/arty/Documents/SmtpDbchange2.pl line 40.
ERROR: 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 'values = 'Arty' WHERE namekey = smtp_username' at line 1Use of uninitialized value $query_handle in concatenation (.) or string at /home/arty/Documents/SmtpDbchange2.pl line 43.

please assist

Answer 1

Your syntax error comes from the fact that “values” is a reserved word in SQL. You need to quote that token when it functions as an identifier:

UPDATE jos_config SET `values` = ...

Generally, MySQL shows you just where the syntax error is at the beginning of the query excerpt, as it did for you.

Your next problem will be that you have not properly quoted the literal value you compare against namekey, and that literal value will look like an identifier rather than a string to MySQL. The solution here is to forget about interpolating variables and use parameterized queries:

$connect->do('UPDATE jos_config SET `values`=? WHERE namekey=?', undef, $name, $id);