WordPress database error – Error in SQL syntax – I can’t identify any error?

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I am trying to write function that checks whether an email address is stored in my database or not. I’ve written the following PHP code:: 

function check_my_users( $email_address ) {
     global $wpdb;
     $my_table_name = $wpdb->prefix . 'my_users';

     $result = $wpdb->get_var( $wpdb->prepare( 'SELECT email FROM %s WHERE email = %s', $my_table_name, $email_address ) );

     if( $result !== NULL )
         return true;

     return false;
 }

The function always returns false. Additionally, the following query is printed after calling the function: SELECT email FROM 'wp_my_users' WHERE email = 'mail@example.com'.

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Additionally, the following is written to the debug log: 

WordPress database error 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 ''wp_my_users' WHERE email = 'mail@example.com'' at line 1 for query SELECT email FROM 'wp_my_users' WHERE email = 'mail@example.com' made by […]

(I added the elipsis)

What is wrong with my function, why do I get that error? To me, everything looks good.

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1 comment

  1. You want the query to look like this:

    SELECT email FROM wp_my_users WHERE email = 'mail@example.com'

    instead of this:

    SELECT email FROM 'wp_my_users' WHERE email = 'mail@example.com'

    So try to construct your query with:

     $sql = "SELECT email FROM {$my_table_name} WHERE email = %s";
 $result = $wpdb->get_var( $wpdb->prepare( $sql, $email_address ) );

    where you don’t need to escape the table name, since it’s constructed it in a safe way.