help finding "Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STRING"

[riverdale1567]

Hi I am a newbie trying to get some of my first code working, yada yada yada.

I have a drop down box which chooses a state then takes the post data to 'processform2.p hp' to use that to pull up all the rows which have the corresponding state.
I am getting this 'Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STRING in /home/attorney/public_html/' on line 13

<?
$username="XXXXXXXX";
$password="XXXXXX";
$database="XXXXXXXX";
 
 
ini_set('display_errors',1);
error_reporting(E_ALL);
 
 
mysql_connect("localhost",$username,$password);
@mysql_select_db($database) or die( "Unable to select database");
 $query='SELECT * FROM BIZ_APARTMENTS WHERE $_POST('bizState')';
$result=mysql_query($query);
 
$num=mysql_numrows($result);
 
mysql_close();
 
echo "<b><center>Buildings in State</center></b><br><br>";
 
$i=0;
while ($i < $num) {
 
$name=mysql_result($result,$i,"bizName");
$address=mysql_result($result,$i,"bizAddress");
$city=mysql_result($result,$i,"bizCity");
$state=mysql_result($result,$i,"bizState");
$zip=mysql_result($result,$i,"bizZip");
$phone=mysql_result($result,$i,"bizPhone");
$email=mysql_result($result,$i,"bizEmail");
 
echo "<b>Name: $name</b><br>Phone: $phone<br>Type: $type<br>Address: $address<br>City: $city<br>State: $state<br>Zip: $zip<br>Email:$email<br>";
 
$i++;
}
 
?>

Thanks a million,

[kovik]

OMFG! That is the syntax that my query() function in my database uses. o.o

/**
 * Query the database
 * @param string Database query
 * @param array Values to substitute into query
 * @return Vol_Database_MySql
 */
public function query($query, array $substitutions);

Replaces values from $substitutions into the places that question marks are in $query (using mysql_real_esca pe_string and typecasting of numeric values). I thought it was clever and original >.<

[riverdale1567]

for instance if i select Iowa, i get back 'Array ( [b] => IA )' What does the 'b' before the '=>' stand for? Also how do i get the post data to be used as part of the 'where' so that only rows with column 'bizState' matching $_POST are pulled.

I plead my massive ignorance as I try to teach myself here. Again many thanks for your patience.
thank you,thank you,thank you,thank you...

[kovik]

"Array ( [b] => IA )" means that the array has an element at index "b" that has the value "IA".

In order to access th value "IA", you want to access the "b" index. So, your query should be:

$query = "SELECT * FROM $table WHERE bizState='"
       . mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['b']) . "'";

[riverdale1567]

how freakin cool, it actually WORKS!!!

Can I Pick Your Brains A Little Further?...

Can you give me a general idea on how I could take these results and turn them into a page full of links each one pointing to a separate page for each result.
I think i understand a little how to concatenate together a url from the results, but do i point it to a template or something to generate a gazillion pages from the results or what?
Many thanks from a newbie fumbling in the dark.

[kovik]

You'll likely want to make use of the query string. The query string is the part of a URL that is followed by a question mark (?). It is a series of variables and values that will exist in the $_GET array. Example:

// index.php
$result = mysql_query("select `id`, `name` from `table`");
 
while ($data = mysql_fetch_object($result)) {
    echo '<a href="item.php?id=', $result->id, '">', $result->name, '</a>';
}

// item.php
$item = null;
 
if (isset($_GET['id'])) {
    $id = (int)$_GET['id'];
    $result = mysql_query("select * from `table` where `id` = {$id}");
    $item = mysql_fetch_object($result);
}
 
if (!$item) {
    echo 'Invalid item.';
} else {
    echo 'Item name: ', $item->name;
}