PHP PDO PostgreSQL issue

Question

Having problems passing a parameter to a sql query if the parameter has spaces in it. The code is

$statement="select  di_timestamp, di_item_value
from data_item
where
fk_fc_id=(select fc_id 
        from field_column
        where 
        fc_description ilike :sensor
        and
        fk_mds_id=( select mds_id 
                    from monitored_data_set
                    where fk_pa_id=(select pa_id 
                        from pilot_ambient 
                        where   
                        pa_ambient_name ilike :room
                        and 
                        fk_sp_id=(
                            select sp_id 
                            from School_Pilot 
                            where sp_description ilike :name
                            )
                        )
                    )
                )";
$query = $databaseConn->prepare($statement);
$query->execute(array(':sensor'=>$sensor,':room'=>$room,':name' => '%'.$school.'%'));

However if sensor contains any spaces the query fails. How can I resolve this? I've tried putting quotes in the parameter, quotes in the query, but nothing works.

Answer 1

You may pass space characters in prepared statements parameters without quotes or any special care.

Here's a demo:

<?
$pdo = new PDO('pgsql:dbname=test');
$pdo->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);

$query = "SELECT 1 WHERE 'abc de' ilike :pattern";
try {
  $stmt = $pdo->prepare($query);
  $stmt->execute(array(":pattern"=>'ABc %'));
  var_dump($stmt->fetchAll());
}
catch(PDOException $e){
   echo "Error".  $e->getMessage();
}
?>

It yields no error and displays the proper result:

array(1) {
  [0]=>
  array(2) {
    ["?column?"]=>
    int(1)
    [0]=>
    int(1)
  }
}

If the datatype of the column to match is of type CHAR(n) as opposed to VARCHAR(n) or TEXT , be aware that trailing spaces are treated as non significant.