AJAX call to a PHP/MySQL script failes if a dynamic table name has a space in it.

[ArizonaJohn]

Hello,

Below I have some Ajax and the page it points to. This code works great if $_SESSION['find'] has no spaces in it (for example, if it is "elpaso"). However, if $_SESSION['find'] has a space in it (for example, "el paso"), then the Ajax fails.

What can I do to make this Ajax work when $_SESSION['find'] has a space in it?

Thanks.

Ajax:

<?php
 
 
ob_start();
session_start();
$find = strip_tags($_POST['find']);
$find = trim ($find);
$find = strtolower($find);
$_SESSION['find'] = $find;
?>
 
$.ajax({
            type: "POST",
            data: "action=vote_up&id="+$(this).attr("id"),
            url: "votes12.php",
            success: function(msg)
            {
                $("span#votes_count"+the_id).html(msg);
                //fadein the vote count
                $("span#votes_count"+the_id).fadeIn();
                //remove the spinner
                $("span#button"+the_id).remove();
            }
        });

Then, on votes12.php:

<?php
session_start();
?>
 
<?php
mysql_connect("mysqlv10", "username", "password") or die(mysql_error());
mysql_select_db("database") or die(mysql_error());
 
function getAllVotes($id)
    {
    /**
    Returns an array whose first element is votes_up and the second one is votes_down
    **/
    $votes = array();
    $q = "SELECT * FROM {$_SESSION['find']} WHERE id = $id";
    $r = mysql_query($q);
    if(mysql_num_rows($r)==1)//id found in the table
        {
        $row = mysql_fetch_assoc($r);
        $votes[0] = $row['votes_up'];
        $votes[1] = $row['votes_down'];
        }
    return $votes;
    }
?>

[ArizonaJohn]

Someone else told me to put backticks around the session variable and it solved the problem, so

$q = "SELECT * FROM `{$_SESSION['find']}` WHERE id = $id";

[Atli]

Yep, that would do it.

MySQL doesn't allow table/database/procedure names with spaces, or other special characters, unless you enclose them in back-ticks.

Anyways, glad you found a solution, and thanks for sharing it!

P.S.
I change the title of the thread to reflect the actual problem... might make it easier for somebody suffering the same problem to find an answer ;)