# Really basic MySQL question.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-basic-mysql-question/98513
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 15, 2002, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-basic-mysql-question/98513 "2002-03-15T20:35:47Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2002, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-basic-mysql-question/98513/1 "2002-03-15T20:35:47Z")
I’m trying to do a simple query filtered via a where clause, eg:
SELCT \* FROM table\_name WHERE column\_name = key\_value
I keep getting an error telling me that key\_value is an invalid column. What gives?
I tried googling for this, but all I got was actual error pages from various sites, and the various developer’s sites aren’t much help for really basic questions.
Any help is appreciated.
---
### Author:  [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2002, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-basic-mysql-question/98513/2 "2002-03-15T20:37:04Z")
**SELECT**.
Sigh…
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### Author:  [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2002, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-basic-mysql-question/98513/3 "2002-03-15T22:44:26Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by black455 \*
> \*\*I’m trying to do a simple query filtered via a where clause, eg:
>
> SELCT \* FROM table\_name WHERE column\_name = key\_value
>
> I keep getting an error telling me that key\_value is an invalid column. What gives?
>
> I tried googling for this, but all I got was actual error pages from various sites, and the various developer’s sites aren’t much help for really basic questions.
>
> Any help is appreciated. \*\*
I don’t know about MySql, but this is a common error if you use double quotes when you need single quotes.
(I’m assuming you made a typo on the word “SELECT”)
For example:
SELECT \*
FROM EnrightsTable
WHERE LastName = **“Enright3”** is incorrect. It should read:
SELECT \*
FROM EnrightsTable
WHERE LastName = **'Enright3’**
Hope this helps.
E3
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### Author:  [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2002, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-basic-mysql-question/98513/4 "2002-03-15T22:57:33Z")
I didn’t even realize I was supposed to use quotes around the key at all at all, and I’ll be damned, it works. Thanks, **Enright3**.
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### Author:  [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2002, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-basic-mysql-question/98513/5 "2002-03-15T23:35:27Z")
To do wild card searching (unless you’re using an access database) you can replace the **=‘searchdata’** with **LIKE 'searchdat%'**
So to search for all values in the specified column for any data that starts with ‘enri’ you would put:
SELECT \*
FROM table
WHERE LastName LIKE ‘enri%’
E3
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2002, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-basic-mysql-question/98513/6 "2002-03-16T02:44:00Z")
MySQL also supports basic regular expressions for wildcard searches: [http://www.mysql.com/doc/P/a/Pattern\_matching.html](http://www.mysql.com/doc/P/a/Pattern_matching.html)
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### Author:  [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2002, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-basic-mysql-question/98513/7 "2002-03-16T13:18:01Z")
An additional note, in case you were wondering why the parser had a problem with a key\_value being an invalid column. Without the quotes, the parser assumes the search string is a column, and that you are trying to compare the two columns. Since there is no column with that name, it gives the error.
If that didn’t make sense, using a search string of Smith as an example and a column named LastName, the parser thinks you want all records where the LastName column and the Smith column have the same data.