Question

So,
I can run the following statements from within mysql itself successfully.

SET @fname = 'point1';
SELECT * FROM country WHERE name=@fname;`

But when I try to pass the query through php like this and run it, I get an error on the second line

$query = "SET @fname = 'point1';";

$query  .=  "SELECT * FROM country WHERE name=@fname;";

Answer 1

I am not certain why it fails, but rather than writing it with MySQL variables, why not use PHP variables?

In other words,

$fname = 'point1';
$query = "select * from country where name = '$fname'";

And the normal warning against SQL injection applies, of course.