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Error in SQL syntax when running SQL in Java but not in HeidiSQL

I'm trying to run an insert or update on a table - the string generated from below works fine when copy pasted into HeidiSQL but throws SQLSyntaxErrorExceptions when run from Java:
Statement statement = con.createStatement();
String escapedXML = EscapeString(billboard.getXml());
String sql = String.format(
"DELIMITER $ \r\nBEGIN NOT ATOMIC\r\n" +
"IF EXISTS(SELECT * FROM billboards where Name='%s') THEN UPDATE billboards SET XML='%s' where Name='%s';\r\n" +
"ELSE insert into billboards(Name, XML, CreatorName) values('%s', '%s', '%s');\r\n" +
"END IF;\r\n" +
"END $\r\n" +
"DELIMITER ;", billboard.getName(), escapedXML, billboard.getName(), billboard.getName(), escapedXML, billboard.getCreatorName());
// Insert or update billboard
statement.execute(sql);
I can't figure out why.

I would recommend using the insert ... ok duplicate key syntax here rather than a code block. This is more efficient, and implements the lockout a single statement, which should avoid the problem you meet when running the query from your php code.
insert into billboards(Name, XML, CreatorName)
values(?, ?, ?)
on duplicate key update set XML = values(XML)
For this to work, you need a unique (or primary key) constraint on column Name.
Also, consider using a parameterized query rather than concatenating variables in your query stringW Escaping is inefficient and does not really make your code safer.

You should have tried NamedParameterStatement with your query to facilitate setting of string parameters and avoid their duplication (using refactored query suggested in GMB's earlier answer):
String sql = "INSERT INTO billboards (Name, XML, CreatorName) VALUES (:name, :xml, :creator) "
+ "ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE SET XML = :xml";
NamedParameterStatement statement = new NamedParameterStatement(con, sql);
statement.setString("name", billboard.getName());
statement.setString("xml", EscapeString(billboard.getXml()));
statement.setString("creator", billboard.getCreatorName());
// Insert or update billboard
statement.execute(sql);

The reason that you are getting a syntax error is that DELIMITER is a MySQL client command and not an SQL statement. MySQL commands may not be used in with JDBC.
For more information:
Delimiters in MySQL

Java: You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use

I am using eclipse and mySQL for coding, while inserting the values I received the syntax error.
if(!(nameOfConvo.equals(visitorName))){
staffConvo = StringUtils.substringAfter(convo, ": ");
System.out.println("Staff - " + staffConvo);
String staffSql = "INSERT INTO webchatdata" + "(staffConvo)" + "VALUES ('"+ staffConvo+ "')";
myStat.executeUpdate(staffSql);
}
else {
visitorConvo = StringUtils.substringAfter(convo, ": ");
System.out.println("Visitor - " + visitorConvo);
String visitorSql = "INSERT INTO webchatdata" + "(visitorConvo)" + "VALUES ('" +visitorConvo+"')";
myStat.executeUpdate(visitorSql);
}
while in mySQL it is printing out some values, it'll only print halfway and display :
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 's in a course that he has interest in, it is likely that he will excel in it. I' at line 1
Inserting other variables into the database were fine like ex.
String timeStampSql = "INSERT INTO conversation" + "(timestamp)" + "VALUES ('" +timeStamp+"')";
myStat.executeUpdate(timeStampSql);

The problem may be with the content you're putting in to SQL.
Assuming the full string might be something like this.. (You have not provided what the actual input is in this case, so I can only assume)
Bob's in a course that he has interest in, it is likely that he will excel in it. I'm writing
Notice that the first and last character are single quotation marks.
This is breaking your sql insert string, because it will close the string when it reads ' in the text.
When you save the string, you need to escape the quotations so the string is not finished incorrectly. Note the backslashes added.
Bob\'s in a course that he has interest in, it is likely that he will excel in it. I\'m writing

Dynamic column name using prepared statement + sql query with variable containing 's

My query
attributes.replace(" ' ", "");
//also used SET "+attributes+"
String sql;
sql = "UPDATE diseaseinfo"
+ " SET ?=?"
+ "WHERE companyname = 'mycom' && diseaseName =?";
PreparedStatement preparedStmt = connects.prepareStatement(sql);
preparedStmt.setString(1, attributes);
preparedStmt.setString(2, attrData);
preparedStmt.setString(3, medname);
System.out.println(preparedStmt);
it is giving me an error because query set the column name in string so it become like this on causes
UPDATE diseaseinfo SET 'causes'='abc' WHERE companyname = 'mycom' and diseaseName ='fever'
and through this question I get to know that I can't add dynamic column by prepared statement: https://stackoverflow.com/a/3136049/7794329
Now, the real question comes up: suppose if I will use a simple update query like in this question: jdbc dymanic sql query with variable containg 's
It says you can't enter value with 's in your simple sql query because it will again make the query syntactical error for example :
SELECT * FROM diseaseinfo WHERE diseaseName = 'Adult Still's disease' AND name = 'add';
Here it wont execute because of ' 's on 'Adult Still's
Then it won't work with simple query. What should I do now? What to use? To set dynamic column with taking care of 's in the query.
I am not worried about SQL injection because i am working on local. And I just want my query to be executed.

Right. We can't supply identifiers as bind parameters. The name of the column has to be part of the SQL text.
We can dynamically incorporate the name of the column into the SQL text with something like this:
sql = "UPDATE diseaseinfo"
+ " SET `" + colname + "` = ?"
+ " WHERE companyname = 'mycom' AND diseaseName = ?";
And supply values for the two remaining bind parameters
preparedStmt.setString(1, attrData);
preparedStmt.setString(2, medname);
And you are absolutely correct about being concerned about SQL Injection.
Supplied as bind values, single quotes in the values of attrData and medname won't be an issue, in terms of SQL Injection.
But the example I've provided is vulnerable through incorporating the colname variable into the SQL text, if we don't have some guaranteed that colname is "safe" to include in the statement.
So we need to make the assignment of a value to colname "safe".
Several approaches we can use do that. The most secure would be a "whitelist" approach. The code can ensure that only specific allowed "safe" values get assigned to colname, before colname gets included into the SQL text.
As a simple example:
String colname;
if (attributes.equals("someexpectedvalue") {
colname = "columnname_to_be_used";
} else if (attributes.equals("someothervalid") {
colname = "valid_columname";
} else {
// unexpected/unsupported attributes value so
// handle condition or throw an exception
}
A more flexible approach is to ensure that a backtick character doesn't appear in colname. In the example, the value of colname is being escaped by enclosing it in backticks. So, as long as a backtick character doesn't appear in colname, we will prevent a supplied value from being interpreted as anything other than as an identifier.
For a more generic (and complicated) approach to using hardcoded backtick characters, we could consider making use the supportsQuotedIdentifiers and getIdentifierQuoteString methods of java.sql.DatabaseMetaData class.
(In the OP code, we don't see the datatype of contents of attributes. We see a call to a method named replace, and the arguments that are supplied to that. Assuming that attributes is a String, and that's supposed to be a column name, it's not at all clear why we would have "space single quote space" in the string, or why we need to remove that. Other than this mention, this answer doesn't address that.)

Why does this SQL-Statement lead to an error?

I am getting quite angry with this, so I seek help from the crowd ;)
What I want to do: We have a Unity learning game which shall implement a login window. The entered credentials are then hashed (the pw is) and sent to the server, who then should check this against a database.
I have the following table:
xy.users_confirms with the following colums:
id username email password hashcode created
Why does my code
String sql = "SELECT " + "xy.users_confirms.password as pwhash, "
+"FROM xy.users_confirms " +"WHERE xy.users_confirms.username = " +"\"userNameToGetHashFor\"";
lead me to the SQLException "Parameter index out of range (1 > number of parameters, which is 0)"
?
Thanks, any input is much appreciated!

Try this:
String parameter = "'"+ strNameToGetHashFor + "'";
String sql = "SELECT " + "xy.users_confirms.password as pwhash, "
+"FROM xy.users_confirms "
+"WHERE xy.users_confirms.username ="+ parameter;
You are using varchar value as a parameter so it's need to be quot like this.'username'. or you can use Stored Procedure.

Personally, I would try getting a working query using the custom query box directly in phpmyadmin. Once you have a working query you can re-write it in java.
And I would try writing the syntax like this into the phpmyadmin query box:
SELECT password as pwhash
FROM xy.users_confirms
WHERE username ='userNameToGetHashFor'
Using the above syntax I don't see anyway your error could persist.
Phpmyadmin screen cap showing custom query box: http://screencast.com/t/9h8anH0Aj
(the 2 empty text boxes in screen cap are just me hiding my database info)

The comma after pwhash is one potential cause:
+ "xy.users_confirms.password as pwhash*!*,*!* "
Depending on the DBMS, you may also need to use single quotes instead of double quotes like this:
+ "'userNameToGetHashFor'";
Also this code is potentially vulnerable to a SQL Injection attack so you may want to make the userNameToGetHashFor a parameter rather than concatenating the string into the SQL statement.

String formatting prob for making database value inside a file

I have a bean class which does maintain user data:
soppose I have created a postgresql DB table like this:
StringBuffer sqlStr = new StringBuffer();
sqlStr.append("CREATE TABLE Users ("
user_id bigint,
username character varying NOT NULL,
biography character varying NOT NULL
);
& I want to make a query command and inject my String data inside it:
sqlStr.append("INSERT INTO users(" +
"user_id, username, biography)" +
"\n\tVALUES (" + user.getID()+ "," + user.getUsername() + "," + user.getBiography()+");";
my problem is for example if the data coming from my method has quote or double quote or "," my command will become wrong suppose that the user biography is something like this :
hello, I'm Mr X an "IT Pro" ...
If I run my application and save the output inside a file called query.sql I can't use it because my query command is wrong because of quote & double quote, something like this:
INSERT INTO users(userid, username, biography)
VALUES(2, 'Mehdi', 'hello, I'm Mr X an "IT Pro" ..');
how Can I fix this problem ?

You should never ever use the above method for constructing SQL queries.
"Why not?" you ask, well; where to start. The classic example is Bobby Tables, the more general problem is SQL injection. This leaves your program open to attack but also to random failure - like the situation you describe.
Now, the solution. Always use PreparedStatement to construct your query. In your example
final String query = "INSERT INTO users(user_id, username, biography) VALUES (?,?,?)";
final PreparedStatement ps = con.prepareStatement(query);
ps.setInt(1, user.getID());
ps.setString(2, user.getUsername());
ps.setString(3, user.getBiography());
ps.executeUpdate();
A much nicer syntax to use with is the the SET syntax rather than the traditional VALUES syntax. The query would then look like
final String query = "INSERT INTO users SET user_id = ?, username = ?, biography = ?";
EDIT
The OP is building a query for a script file, not executing a query in the code.
There is a utility class in Apache Commons Lang, StringEscapeUtils. This has an escapeSql method. Looking at the source code, all this does is escape single quotes with another single quote.
This works if you build your queries with single quotes:
VALUES (" + user.getID()+ ",'" + user.getUsername() + "'...
So the query, once the example value is inserted will go from:
VALUES (10 ,'hello, I'm Mr X an "IT Pro"'...
Will become
VALUES (10 ,'hello, I''m Mr X an "IT Pro"'...
The apostrophe in "I'm" is now escaped and harmless.
Note that you obviously need to escape the values and not the query, so (assuming you have a static import for the class)
VALUES (" + user.getID()+ ",'" + escapeSql(user.getUsername()) + "'...
But does not escape other sql characters, percent signs for example.
This is really a stop-gap measure to make the code work while you come up with a more robust solution. And you should come up with a more robust solution.

Why dont you use PreparedStatement? That will also give you better performance as the SQL will be pre-compiled on DB side.
Or
You can escape the quotes using
String.replaceAll http://docs.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/api/java/lang/String.html#replaceAll(java.lang.String, java.lang.String)