Prepares an SQL statement for execution

# mysqli_stmt::prepare

# mysqli_stmt_prepare

(PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)

mysqli_stmt::prepare -- mysqli_stmt_prepare — Prepares an SQL statement for execution

### Description

Object-oriented style

public mysqli_stmt::prepare(string `$query`): bool

Procedural style

mysqli_stmt_prepare(mysqli_stmt `$statement`, string `$query`): bool

Prepares a statement for execution. The query must consist of a single SQL statement.

The statement template can contain zero or more question mark (`?`) parameter markers⁠—also called placeholders. The parameter markers must be bound to application variables using mysqli_stmt_bind_param() before executing the statement.

> Note:

> In the case where a statement is passed to mysqli_stmt_prepare() that is longer than `max_allowed_packet` of the server, the returned error codes are different depending on whether you are using MySQL Native Driver (`mysqlnd`) or MySQL Client Library (`libmysqlclient`). The behavior is as follows:

> - `mysqlnd` on Linux returns an error code of 1153. The error message means got a packet bigger than `max_allowed_packet` bytes.

> - `mysqlnd` on Windows returns an error code 2006. This error message means server has gone away.

> - `libmysqlclient` on all platforms returns an error code 2006. This error message means server has gone away.

### Parameters

`statement`

  Procedural style only: A mysqli_stmt object returned by mysqli_stmt_init().

`query`

  The query, as a string. It must consist of a single SQL statement.

  The SQL statement may contain zero or more parameter markers represented by question mark (`?`) characters at the appropriate positions.

  > Note:

  > The markers are legal only in certain places in SQL statements. For example, they are permitted in the `VALUES()` list of an `INSERT` statement (to specify column values for a row), or in a comparison with a column in a `WHERE` clause to specify a comparison value. However, they are not permitted for identifiers (such as table or column names).

### Return Values

Returns `true` on success or `false` on failure.

### Errors/Exceptions

If mysqli error reporting is enabled (`MYSQLI_REPORT_ERROR`) and the requested operation fails, a warning is generated. If, in addition, the mode is set to `MYSQLI_REPORT_STRICT`, a mysqli_sql_exception is thrown instead.

### Examples

Example #1 mysqli_stmt::prepare() example

Object-oriented style

`<?php
mysqli_report(MYSQLI_REPORT_ERROR | MYSQLI_REPORT_STRICT);
$mysqli = new mysqli("localhost", "my_user", "my_password", "world");
$city = "Amersfoort";
/* create a prepared statement */
$stmt = $mysqli->stmt_init();
$stmt->prepare("SELECT District FROM City WHERE Name=?");
/* bind parameters for markers */
$stmt->bind_param("s", $city);
/* execute query */
$stmt->execute();
/* bind result variables */
$stmt->bind_result($district);
/* fetch value */
$stmt->fetch();
printf("%s is in district %s\n", $city, $district);`

Procedural style

`<?php
mysqli_report(MYSQLI_REPORT_ERROR | MYSQLI_REPORT_STRICT);
$link = mysqli_connect("localhost", "my_user", "my_password", "world");
$city = "Amersfoort";
/* create a prepared statement */
$stmt = mysqli_stmt_init($link);
mysqli_stmt_prepare($stmt, "SELECT District FROM City WHERE Name=?");
/* bind parameters for markers */
mysqli_stmt_bind_param($stmt, "s", $city);
/* execute query */
mysqli_stmt_execute($stmt);
/* bind result variables */
mysqli_stmt_bind_result($stmt, $district);
/* fetch value */
mysqli_stmt_fetch($stmt);
printf("%s is in district %s\n", $city, $district);`

The above examples will output:

    Amersfoort is in district Utrecht

### See Also

- mysqli_stmt_init() - Initializes a statement and returns an object for use with mysqli_stmt_prepare
- mysqli_stmt_execute() - Executes a prepared statement
- mysqli_stmt_fetch() - Fetch results from a prepared statement into the bound variables
- mysqli_stmt_bind_param() - Binds variables to a prepared statement as parameters
- mysqli_stmt_bind_result() - Binds variables to a prepared statement for result storage
- mysqli_stmt_get_result() - Gets a result set from a prepared statement as a mysqli_result object
- mysqli_stmt_close() - Closes a prepared statement

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