How Do I Correctly Use the LIKE Operator with PDO Prepared Statements?

Implementing LIKE Query in PDO

When using the LIKE operator in PDO queries, it's essential to ensure the correct syntax to achieve the desired search results. In the provided query, the incorrect placement of the % signs within the $query string is causing the issue.

Syntactic Correction

The modified query should include the % signs in the $params array, not within the query string:

$query = "SELECT * FROM tbl WHERE address LIKE ? OR address LIKE ?";
$params = array("%$var1%", "%$var2%");

This modification ensures that the LIKE operator operates on the $var1 and $var2 variables while escaping them within the prepared statement.

Explanation

In PDO, prepared statements use placeholders (?) to represent dynamic values. When executing the query, the $params array provides the corresponding values to replace the placeholders. In the original query, the % signs were placed within the $query string, which caused the PDO to treat them as literal characters.

By moving the % signs into the $params array, you indicate that they are part of the dynamic values being searched upon, rather than part of the query syntax itself.

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