wpdb::prepare( string $query, mixed $args )

Prepares a SQL query for safe execution. Uses sprintf()-like syntax.

Contents

Description Description

The following placeholders can be used in the query string: %d (integer) %f (float) %s (string)

All placeholders MUST be left unquoted in the query string. A corresponding argument MUST be passed for each placeholder.

For compatibility with old behavior, numbered or formatted string placeholders (eg, %1$s, %5s) will not have quotes added by this function, so should be passed with appropriate quotes around them for your usage.

Literal percentage signs (%) in the query string must be written as %%. Percentage wildcards (for example, to use in LIKE syntax) must be passed via a substitution argument containing the complete LIKE string, these cannot be inserted directly in the query string. Also see wpdb::esc_like().

Arguments may be passed as individual arguments to the method, or as a single array containing all arguments. A combination of the two is not supported.

Examples: $wpdb->prepare( "SELECT * FROM table WHERE column = %s AND field = %d OR other_field LIKE %s", array( ‘foo’, 1337, ‘%bar’ ) ); $wpdb->prepare( "SELECT DATE_FORMAT(field, ‘%%c’) FROM table WHERE column = %s", ‘foo’ );

Parameters Parameters

$query

(string) (Required) Query statement with sprintf()-like placeholders

$args

(mixed) (Required) Further variables to substitute into the query's placeholders if being called with individual arguments.

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Return Return

(string|void) Sanitized query string, if there is a query to prepare.

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Source Source

File: wp-includes/wp-db.php 

	public function prepare( $query, ...$args ) {
		if ( is_null( $query ) ) {
			return;
		}

		// This is not meant to be foolproof -- but it will catch obviously incorrect usage.
		if ( strpos( $query, '%' ) === false ) {
			wp_load_translations_early();
			_doing_it_wrong(
				'wpdb::prepare',
				sprintf(
					/* translators: %s: wpdb::prepare() */
					__( 'The query argument of %s must have a placeholder.' ),
					'wpdb::prepare()'
				),
				'3.9.0'
			);
		}

		// If args were passed as an array (as in vsprintf), move them up.
		$passed_as_array = false;
		if ( is_array( $args[0] ) && count( $args ) == 1 ) {
			$passed_as_array = true;
			$args            = $args[0];
		}

		foreach ( $args as $arg ) {
			if ( ! is_scalar( $arg ) && ! is_null( $arg ) ) {
				wp_load_translations_early();
				_doing_it_wrong(
					'wpdb::prepare',
					sprintf(
						/* translators: %s: Value type. */
						__( 'Unsupported value type (%s).' ),
						gettype( $arg )
					),
					'4.8.2'
				);
			}
		}

		/*
		 * Specify the formatting allowed in a placeholder. The following are allowed:
		 *
		 * - Sign specifier. eg, $+d
		 * - Numbered placeholders. eg, %1$s
		 * - Padding specifier, including custom padding characters. eg, %05s, %'#5s
		 * - Alignment specifier. eg, %05-s
		 * - Precision specifier. eg, %.2f
		 */
		$allowed_format = '(?:[1-9][0-9]*[$])?[-+0-9]*(?: |0|\'.)?[-+0-9]*(?:\.[0-9]+)?';

		/*
		 * If a %s placeholder already has quotes around it, removing the existing quotes and re-inserting them
		 * ensures the quotes are consistent.
		 *
		 * For backward compatibility, this is only applied to %s, and not to placeholders like %1$s, which are frequently
		 * used in the middle of longer strings, or as table name placeholders.
		 */
		$query = str_replace( "'%s'", '%s', $query ); // Strip any existing single quotes.
		$query = str_replace( '"%s"', '%s', $query ); // Strip any existing double quotes.
		$query = preg_replace( '/(?<!%)%s/', "'%s'", $query ); // Quote the strings, avoiding escaped strings like %%s.

		$query = preg_replace( "/(?<!%)(%($allowed_format)?f)/", '%\\2F', $query ); // Force floats to be locale unaware.

		$query = preg_replace( "/%(?:%|$|(?!($allowed_format)?[sdF]))/", '%%\\1', $query ); // Escape any unescaped percents.

		// Count the number of valid placeholders in the query.
		$placeholders = preg_match_all( "/(^|[^%]|(%%)+)%($allowed_format)?[sdF]/", $query, $matches );

		if ( count( $args ) !== $placeholders ) {
			if ( 1 === $placeholders && $passed_as_array ) {
				// If the passed query only expected one argument, but the wrong number of arguments were sent as an array, bail.
				wp_load_translations_early();
				_doing_it_wrong(
					'wpdb::prepare',
					__( 'The query only expected one placeholder, but an array of multiple placeholders was sent.' ),
					'4.9.0'
				);

				return;
			} else {
				/*
				 * If we don't have the right number of placeholders, but they were passed as individual arguments,
				 * or we were expecting multiple arguments in an array, throw a warning.
				 */
				wp_load_translations_early();
				_doing_it_wrong(
					'wpdb::prepare',
					sprintf(
						/* translators: 1: Number of placeholders, 2: Number of arguments passed. */
						__( 'The query does not contain the correct number of placeholders (%1$d) for the number of arguments passed (%2$d).' ),
						$placeholders,
						count( $args )
					),
					'4.8.3'
				);
			}
		}

		array_walk( $args, array( $this, 'escape_by_ref' ) );
		$query = vsprintf( $query, $args );

		return $this->add_placeholder_escape( $query );
	}

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Changelog Changelog

Changelog
Version Description
5.3.0 Formalized the existing and already documented ...$args parameter by updating the function signature. The second parameter was changed from $args to ...$args.
2.3.0 Introduced.

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Used By Used By

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Creates WordPress site meta and sets the default values.
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Find the post ID for redirecting an old date.
wp-includes/post.php: wp_delete_attachment_files()

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Count number of requests for each status.
wp-includes/taxonomy.php: has_term_meta()

Get all meta data, including meta IDs, for the given term ID.
wp-includes/option.php: delete_expired_transients()

Deletes all expired transients.
wp-includes/comment.php: wp_check_comment_flood()

Checks whether comment flooding is occurring.
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Used internally to generate a SQL string related to the ‘search’ parameter.
wp-includes/class-wp-term-query.php: WP_Term_Query::get_terms()

Get terms, based on query_vars.
wp-includes/class-wp-network-query.php: WP_Network_Query::get_search_sql()

Used internally to generate an SQL string for searching across multiple columns.
wp-includes/class-wp-network-query.php: WP_Network_Query::get_network_ids()

Used internally to get a list of network IDs matching the query vars.
wp-includes/class-wp-site-query.php: WP_Site_Query::get_search_sql()

Used internally to generate an SQL string for searching across multiple columns.
wp-includes/class-wp-site-query.php: WP_Site_Query::get_site_ids()

Used internally to get a list of site IDs matching the query vars.
wp-admin/includes/export.php: wxr_term_meta()

Output term meta XML tags for a given term object.
wp-includes/class-wp-site.php: WP_Site::get_instance()

Retrieves a site from the database by its ID.
wp-admin/includes/class-wp-upgrader.php: WP_Upgrader::create_lock()

Creates a lock using WordPress options.
wp-includes/class-wp-network.php: WP_Network::get_instance()

Retrieve a network from the database by its ID.
wp-includes/taxonomy.php: wp_term_is_shared()

Determine whether a term is shared between multiple taxonomies.
wp-includes/class-wp-comment.php: WP_Comment::get_instance()

Retrieves a WP_Comment instance.
wp-includes/user.php: wp_get_users_with_no_role()

Get the user IDs of all users with no role on this site.
wp-includes/class-wp-comment-query.php: WP_Comment_Query::get_comment_ids()

Used internally to get a list of comment IDs matching the query vars.
wp-includes/class-wp-term.php: WP_Term::get_instance()

Retrieve WP_Term instance.
wp-includes/option.php: delete_network_option()

Removes a network option by name.
wp-includes/option.php: get_network_option()

Retrieve a network’s option value based on the option name.
wp-includes/taxonomy.php: _wp_batch_split_terms()

Splits a batch of shared taxonomy terms.
wp-includes/wp-db.php: wpdb::strip_invalid_text()

Strips any invalid characters based on value/charset pairs.
wp-admin/includes/media.php: wp_media_attach_action()

Encapsulate logic for Attach/Detach actions
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Generate SQL JOIN and WHERE clauses for a first-order query clause.
wp-includes/class-wp-tax-query.php: WP_Tax_Query::get_sql_for_clause()

Generate SQL JOIN and WHERE clauses for a “first-order” query clause.
wp-includes/class-wp-date-query.php: WP_Date_Query::get_sql_for_clause()

Turns a first-order date query into SQL for a WHERE clause.
wp-includes/media.php: attachment_url_to_postid()

Tries to convert an attachment URL into a post ID.
wp-admin/includes/network.php: network_domain_check()

Check for an existing network.
wp-admin/install.php: display_setup_form()

Display installer setup form.
wp-admin/export.php: export_date_options()

Create the date options fields for exporting a given post type.
wp-admin/includes/export.php: export_wp()

Generates the WXR export file for download.
wp-admin/includes/deprecated.php: WP_User_Search::prepare_query()

Prepares the user search query (legacy).
wp-admin/includes/deprecated.php: get_author_user_ids()

Get all user IDs.
wp-admin/includes/deprecated.php: get_editable_user_ids()

Gets the IDs of any users who can edit posts.
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Gets all users who are not authors.
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Retrieves editable posts from other users.
wp-admin/includes/class-wp-list-table.php: WP_List_Table::months_dropdown()

Display a monthly dropdown for filtering items
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Delete a user from the network and remove from all sites.
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Populate network settings.
wp-admin/includes/schema.php: populate_options()

Create WordPress options and set the default values.
wp-admin/includes/upgrade.php: maybe_create_table()

Creates a table in the database if it doesn’t already exist.
wp-admin/includes/upgrade.php: wp_install_defaults()

Creates the initial content for a newly-installed site.
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Retrieve the user’s drafts.
wp-admin/includes/user.php: wp_delete_user()

Remove user and optionally reassign posts and links to another user.
wp-admin/includes/template.php: meta_form()

Prints the form in the Custom Fields meta box.
wp-admin/includes/template.php: parent_dropdown()

Print out option HTML elements for the page parents drop-down.
wp-admin/includes/class-wp-ms-sites-list-table.php: WP_MS_Sites_List_Table::prepare_items()

Prepares the list of sites for display.
wp-admin/includes/media.php: update_gallery_tab()

Adds the gallery tab back to the tabs array if post has image attachments
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Get meta data for the given post ID.
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Get all available post MIME types for a given post type.
wp-admin/includes/post.php: post_exists()

Determines if a post exists based on title, content, date and type.
wp-admin/includes/class-wp-importer.php: WP_Importer::get_imported_comments()

Set array with imported comments from WordPress database
wp-admin/includes/class-wp-importer.php: WP_Importer::get_imported_posts()

Returns array with imported permalinks from WordPress database
wp-admin/includes/class-wp-importer.php: WP_Importer::count_imported_posts()

Return count of imported permalinks from WordPress database
wp-admin/includes/nav-menu.php: _wp_delete_orphaned_draft_menu_items()

Deletes orphaned draft menu items
wp-admin/includes/comment.php: comment_exists()

Determine if a comment exists based on author and date.
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Constructor.
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Return only the main user fields
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Display archive links based on type and format.
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Remove user meta data.
wp-includes/deprecated.php: get_usermeta()

Retrieve user metadata.
wp-includes/deprecated.php: update_usermeta()

Update metadata of user.
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Retrieves an array of posts based on query variables.
wp-includes/class-wp-query.php: WP_Query::parse_search()

Generates SQL for the WHERE clause based on passed search terms.
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Generates SQL for the ORDER BY condition based on passed search terms.
wp-includes/functions.php: wp_scheduled_delete()

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Check content for video and audio links to add as enclosures.
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Will update term count based on object types of the current taxonomy.
wp-includes/taxonomy.php: _update_generic_term_count()

Will update term count based on number of objects.
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Will make slug unique, if it isn’t already.
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Update term based on arguments provided.
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Add a new term to the database.
wp-includes/taxonomy.php: wp_set_object_terms()

Create Term and Taxonomy Relationships.
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Remove term(s) associated with a given object.
wp-includes/taxonomy.php: wp_delete_term()

Removes a term from the database.
wp-includes/taxonomy.php: term_exists()

Determines whether a term exists.
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Retrieves the adjacent post.
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Whitelists any domain in a multisite installation for safe HTTP requests.
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Builds a query string for comparing time values (hour, minute, second).
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Loads and caches certain often requested site options if is_multisite() and a persistent cache is not being used.
wp-includes/option.php: add_option()

Add a new option.
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Removes option by name. Prevents removal of protected WordPress options.
wp-includes/option.php: get_option()

Retrieves an option value based on an option name.
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Prepare the query variables.
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Used internally to generate an SQL string for searching across multiple columns
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Insert a user into the database.
wp-includes/user.php: count_users()

Count number of users who have each of the user roles.
wp-includes/media.php: wp_enqueue_media()

Enqueues all scripts, styles, settings, and templates necessary to use all media JS APIs.
wp-includes/class-wp-post.php: WP_Post::get_instance()

Retrieve WP_Post instance.
wp-includes/post.php: get_posts_by_author_sql()

Retrieve the post SQL based on capability, author, and type.
wp-includes/post.php: wp_delete_attachment()

Trash or delete an attachment.
wp-includes/post.php: get_page_by_title()

Retrieve a page given its title.
wp-includes/post.php: get_pages()

Retrieve a list of pages (or hierarchical post type items).
wp-includes/post.php: wp_unique_post_slug()

Computes a unique slug for the post, when given the desired slug and some post details.
wp-includes/post.php: wp_untrash_post_comments()

Restore comments for a post from the trash.
wp-includes/post.php: wp_insert_post()

Insert or update a post.
wp-includes/post.php: wp_delete_post()

Trash or delete a post or page.
wp-includes/post.php: wp_trash_post_comments()

Moves comments for a post to the trash.
wp-includes/post.php: wp_count_posts()

Count number of posts of a post type and if user has permissions to view.
wp-includes/class-wp-rewrite.php: WP_Rewrite::page_uri_index()

Retrieves all page and attachments for pages URIs.
wp-includes/canonical.php: redirect_canonical()

Redirects incoming links to the proper URL based on the site url.
wp-includes/canonical.php: redirect_guess_404_permalink()

Attempts to guess the correct URL based on query vars
wp-includes/revision.php: _wp_upgrade_revisions_of_post()

Upgrade the revisions author, add the current post as a revision and set the revisions version to 1
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Get a user’s most recent post.
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Maintains a canonical list of terms by syncing terms created for each blog with the global terms table.
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Activate a signup.
wp-includes/ms-functions.php: wpmu_validate_user_signup()

Sanitize and validate data required for a user sign-up.
wp-includes/ms-functions.php: wpmu_validate_blog_signup()

Processes new site registrations.
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Get the admin for a domain/path combination.
wp-includes/ms-functions.php: remove_user_from_blog()

Remove a user from a blog.
wp-includes/ms-load.php: ms_not_installed()

Displays a failure message.
wp-includes/bookmark.php: get_bookmark()

Retrieve Bookmark data
wp-includes/bookmark.php: get_bookmarks()

Retrieves the list of bookmarks
wp-includes/ms-deprecated.php: get_blog_list()

Deprecated functionality to retrieve a list of all sites.
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Get a blog details field.
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Get a list of most recently updated blogs.
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Retrieve the details for a blog from the blogs table and blog options.
wp-includes/class-wp-xmlrpc-server.php: wp_xmlrpc_server::mt_getTrackbackPings()

Retrieve trackbacks sent to a given post.
wp-includes/class-wp-xmlrpc-server.php: wp_xmlrpc_server::pingback_ping()

Retrieves a pingback and registers it.
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Retrieve array of URLs that pingbacked the given URL.
wp-includes/wp-db.php: wpdb::_insert_replace_helper()

Helper function for insert and replace.
wp-includes/wp-db.php: wpdb::update()

Update a row in the table
wp-includes/wp-db.php: wpdb::delete()

Delete a row in the table
wp-includes/wp-db.php: wpdb::set_charset()

Sets the connection’s character set.
wp-includes/comment.php: trackback()

Send a Trackback.
wp-includes/class-wp-comment-query.php: WP_Comment_Query::get_search_sql()

Used internally to generate an SQL string for searching across multiple columns
wp-includes/comment.php: wp_update_comment_count_now()

Updates the comment count for the post.
wp-includes/comment.php: do_trackbacks()

Perform trackbacks.
wp-includes/comment.php: wp_delete_comment()

Trashes or deletes a comment.
wp-includes/comment.php: get_lastcommentmodified()

The date the last comment was modified.
wp-includes/comment.php: get_comment_count()

Retrieves the total comment counts for the whole site or a single post.
wp-includes/comment.php: wp_allow_comment()

Validates whether this comment is allowed to be made.
wp-includes/comment.php: check_comment()

Check whether a comment passes internal checks to be allowed to add.
wp-includes/meta.php: delete_metadata()

Delete metadata for the specified object.
wp-includes/meta.php: get_metadata_by_mid()

Get meta data by meta ID
wp-includes/meta.php: add_metadata()

Add metadata for the specified object.
wp-includes/meta.php: update_metadata()

Update metadata for the specified object. If no value already exists for the specified object ID and metadata key, the metadata will be added.
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User Contributed Notes User Contributed Notes

  1. Skip to note 1 content
    You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 5You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
    Contributed by Ian Dunn —

    prepare() is often called with each un-sanitized value explicitly passed as an individual argument; for example:

    $wpdb->prepare( "SELECT id FROM wp_posts WHERE id > %d AND `post_status` = %s", $min_id, $status )

    The function will also accept an array of un-sanitized values, though, like this:

    $wpdb->prepare( "SELECT id FROM wp_posts WHERE id > %d AND `post_status` = %s", array( $min_id, $status ) )

    That can be useful in certain circumstances, like when you have a multi-dimensional array where each sub-array contains a different number of items, and so you need to build the placeholders dynamically:

    foreach ( $new_status_post_id_map as $new_status => $wordcamp_ids ) {
	$wordcamp_id_placeholders = implode( ', ', array_fill( 0, count( $wordcamp_ids ), '%d' ) );
	$prepare_values           = array_merge( array( $new_status ), $wordcamp_ids );

	$wpdb->query( $wpdb->prepare( "
		UPDATE `$table_name`
		SET `post_status` = %s
		WHERE ID IN ( $wordcamp_id_placeholders )",
		$prepare_values
	) );
}

    So if a sub-array has 2 items, then $wordcamp_id_placeholders will be '%d, %d', and if the next array has 4 items, then its placeholder string would be '%d, %d, %d, %d'.

  2. Skip to note 2 content
    You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 2You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
    Contributed by martinkolle —

    Reply to http://wpsocket.com/wpref/class/wpdb/prepare/#comment-2240
    Tablename should not be defined like this, because if the prefix is changed or used in a plugin, it will not work on all sites. The proper way is:

    $table_name = "{$wpdb->prefix}myTable";
$myID = 12;

$wpdb->query( $wpdb->prepare( "UPDATE `$table_name` SET `your_column_1` = 1 WHERE `$table_name`.`your_column_id` = %d", $myID ) );
  3. Skip to note 3 content
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    Contributed by macbookandrew —

    Argument swapping is not supported in the sense that you can not reuse the same argument several times in a prepare statement.

    For example, this does not work but throws an error because the number of placeholders does not match the number of arguments passed:

    // Does NOT work due to not enough arguments being passed.
$wpdb->prepare(
	"SELECT * FROM {$wpdb->posts} WHERE `post_date` > %1$s AND `post_title` LIKE %2$s OR `post_content` LIKE %2$s",
	$post_date,
	$search_string
);

    Instead, you need to pass each argument individually:

    // Pass each argument for every time you need it.
$wpdb->prepare(
	"SELECT * FROM {$wpdb->posts} WHERE `post_date` > %1$s AND `post_title` LIKE %2$s OR `post_content` LIKE %3$s",
	$post_date,
	$search_string,
	$search_string
);

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