If field is empty, insert value

[spanster90]

I have phpMyAdmin. What I would like is if the username field for my table is empty, to have it change this field to Anonymous. Is this possible by changing the structure of this field in any way?

[fugix]

start with a query to grab the username row, then check if it is empty, then replace the empty field with the value Anonymous

$query = mysql_query("SELECT username from table_name WHERE column_name = column_name") or die(mysql_error());
$row = mysql_fetch_array($query);
   if($row['username'] == '')
   {
      $result = mysql_query(UPDATE table_name SET username = 'Anonymous' WHERE coulumn_name = column_name) or die(mysql_error());
   }

[mikosiko]

more simple:

mysql_query("UPDATE table_name SET username = 'Anonymous' WHERE username IS NULL OR username = '' ") 
                               or trigger_error('Update Failed : ' . mysql_error(), E_USER_ERROR);

 

just one query... no need to select the records first.

 

if you only use PhpMyAdmin run the provided UPDATE in a SQL tab.

 

you can also alter the table and define 'Anonymous' as the DEFAULT value for that field, in that way you don't need to run the UPDATE every time that a new record is inserted with that field null.

[fugix]

more simple:

mysql_query("UPDATE table_name SET username = 'Anonymous' WHERE username IS NULL OR username = '' ") 
                               or trigger_error('Update Failed : ' . mysql_error(), E_USER_ERROR);

 

just one query... no need to select the records first.

 

if you only use PhpMyAdmin run the provided UPDATE in a SQL tab.

 

you can also alter the table and define 'Anonymous' as the DEFAULT value for that field, in that way you don't need to run the UPDATE every time that a new record is inserted with that field null.

nice, didnt think of that

[spanster90]

you can also alter the table and define 'Anonymous' as the DEFAULT value for that field, in that way you don't need to run the UPDATE every time that a new record is inserted with that field null.

 

I indeed tried this. I set it As Defined: Anonymous but I have scripts that insert to this database and when nothing is inserted to this field, it still shows up empty rather than Anonymous.

 

The scripts work great by the way in cron. I would just prefer the default method, is there a setting I'm missing?

[mikosiko]

I will guess that is most likely because your scripts are inserting an empty string into the field ( '' ) and not a NULL value... default property is good but you always must validate that you are inserting the right thing in your fields

[The Little Guy]

Sql:

ALTER TABLE  `table_name` CHANGE  `first_name`  `first_name` CHAR( 15 ) CHARACTER SET latin1 COLLATE latin1_swedish_ci NOT NULL DEFAULT  'Anonymous'

 

otherwise go to the field you want to change in myAdmin, and click edit, In there set the default to Anonymous. Now when ever something gets put in there when the name column is not specified in the query it will default to the default value.

[nimishprabhu]

Try inserting NULL value instead of "" in your table..

 

So your query would be something like :

 

$sql = "INSERT INTO table_name (username,address) VALUES (NULL,'".$address."') WHERE id = ".$id;

 

Hope it helps.