$query mysql_fetch_assoc() error

Question

this is my code for getting the input of two text fields, sender and message. However, my webpage keeps giving me this error: Warning: mysql_fetch_assoc() expects parameter 1 to be resource, boolean given in C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\xampp\htdocs\Chat\includes\Functions\Chat.func.php on line 11. Please help me. I looked around and most are saying that this error occurs because maybe the $query is incorrect. However, my db_name and tbl_name are correct and everything else in the $query is as well.

function get_msg(){

        $query = "SELECT 'Sender', 'Message' FROM 'db_name'.'tbl_name'";

        $run = mysql_query($query);

        $messages = array();

        while($message = mysql_fetch_assoc($run)){
            $message[] = array('sender' => $message['Sender'], 
                               'message' => $message['Message']);
        }

        return $messages;

    }

Possible duplicate [mysql_fetch_array() expects parameter 1 to be resource, boolean given in select](http://stackoverflow.com/q/2973202/250259) — John Conde, May 20 '13 at 23:20
@JohnConde not a duplicate, this is a simple case of syntax error in the query. — Niels Keurentjes, May 20 '13 at 23:23
@Sam valid comment, but it should be noted that it's not causing the error - it'll just cause the function to always return an empty array ;) — Niels Keurentjes, May 20 '13 at 23:24
But troubleshooting it is the same. Plus these questions are always too localized. — John Conde, May 20 '13 at 23:24
Oh I agree on the 'too localized', just not on the duplicate :) — Niels Keurentjes, May 20 '13 at 23:24
6 comments and no obligatory PDO blurb? Use [PDO](http://php.net/manual/en/book.pdo.php), `mysql_` functions are going away soon. Don't use them. — ficuscr, May 20 '13 at 23:35
@ficuscr it's already in both answers that were given 14 and 16 minutes before your comment. — Niels Keurentjes, May 20 '13 at 23:44

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered May 20 '13 at 23:19

Replace the apostrophes with backticks:

$query = "SELECT `Sender`, `Message` FROM `db_name`.`tbl_name`";

Apostrophes denote string constants in SQL, while MySQL uses backticks to escape internal names like fields or tables in case they conflict with reserved words. Your query in this case will actually also work fine without any backticks.

Second off, showing mysql errors would've shown you this (append or die(mysql_error()) to the query line of code), or actually copy/pasting your query into phpMyAdmin for example.

Finally, the mysql_query family of functions is deprecated as of PHP 5.5. You should switch to PDO or mysqli instead.

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered May 20 '13 at 23:21

1) mysql_query is failing and returning false. 2) use mysqli extension. mysql_* is deprecated. 3) use backticks instead of single quotes

You need to use backticks instead of 'single quotes'. Otherwise you are just selecting strings. Same goes for the column, database and table names. That is why your query is failing assuming the columns, database and tables exist.

$query mysql_fetch_assoc() error

2 Answers2