WHERE allowed on INSERTs?

[bcamp1973]

Is this not acceptable?

[code]
foreach($_POST['category'] as $value) {
    mysql_query("INSERT INTO table (field) VALUES ($value) WHERE $value NOT IN ($old)");
}
[/code]

in this case $old is 1 or more values separated by commas...

I'm getting the following error...

[code]
You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near 'WHERE 25 NOT IN (25))' at line 1
[/code]

[Ninjakreborn]

INSERT INTO table (field) VALUES ($value) WHERE $value1 NOT IN ($old));
after old you have an extra ) that doesn't seem to be needed, and I am not familiar with using NOT IN, but either way that ) at the very end should be removed.

[bcamp1973]

actually, that's a typo when i posted the message, but good catch!  i wish that was the problem tho...

[wildteen88]

Well with the WHERE Clasuse I'm sure you are supposed to have a column name and not a value from a column.
Like:
INSERT INTO table (field) VALUES ($value) WHERE col_name=$value1
You cannot use a column value on its own.

i'm moving this to the MySQL Help forum.

[bcamp1973]

ok, i think maybe i'm not getting the proper use of IN/NOT IN.  I thought (in this case) i could use it to check against a list of already entered values (which have been pulled from a previous query) to make duplicates aren't entered in the database.  Basically i have a page with a bunch of checkboxes on it. if records exist in the database taht correspond to a checkbox then it's check. on submission, i don't want that to be inserted again as a duplicate record?  does that make any sense? :(

[fenway]

Well, if you have an appropriate unique key index, you can use INSERT IGNORE.