# How do I debug mysql syntax problems in ruby code?

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-do-i-debug-mysql-syntax-problems-in-ruby-code/139907>\
**Category:** Ruby\
**Created:** [June 8, 2008, 11:23pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-do-i-debug-mysql-syntax-problems-in-ruby-code/139907 "2008-06-08T23:23:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dreamwave](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@dreamwave](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dreamwave)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2008, 11:23pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-do-i-debug-mysql-syntax-problems-in-ruby-code/139907/1 "2008-06-08T23:23:30Z")

</div>

So, I have a mysql syntax problem in my ruby code. Being new to both,  
I’m  
not sure how to proceed.  
Here’s the code.

!/usr/pkg/bin/ruby18 -w

# simple.rb - simple MySQL script using Ruby DBI module

require “dbi”  
require “generator”

begin  
lines= Array.new  
dbh = DBI.connect(“DBI:mysql:test:localhost”,“root”,"")  
dbh.do(“DROP TABLE IF EXISTS map”)  
dbh.do(“CREATE TABLE map (  
zip INT UNSIGNED,  
st\_abv CHAR(2),  
latitude FLOAT,  
longitude FLOAT, #experiment  
city CHAR(20),  
state CHAR(20),  
PRIMARY KEY (zip))”)  
sth = dbh.prepare(“INSERT INTO map (zip,st\_abv,lat,long,city,state)  
VALUES(?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?)”)  
File.open(“new.csv”, “r”) do |f|  
f.each\_line do |line|  
lines.push(line.gsub(/"/, ‘’’))  
end  
#lines.each {|line| print line }  
end  
lines.each do |line|  
zip,st\_abv,lat,long,city,state = line.chomp.split(",")  
print zip,st\_abv,lat,long,city,state  
print “\n”  
sth.execute(zip, st\_abv, lat, long, city, state)  
end  
sth.finish  
rescue DBI::DatabaseError =\> e  
puts “An error occurred”  
puts “Error code: #{e.err}”  
puts “Error message: #{e.errstr}”  
ensure  
dbh.disconnect if dbh  
end

Here’s the text file I’m using

“00968”, “PR”, " 18.408479", " -66.10250", “Guaynabo”, “Puerto Rico”  
“00969”, “PR”, " 18.366981", " -66.10889", “Guaynabo”, “Puerto Rico”  
“00971”, “PR”, " 18.329688", " -66.11876", “Guaynabo”, “Puerto Rico”  
“00976”, “PR”, " 18.346767", " -66.00561", “Trujillo Alto”, “Puerto  
Rico”  
“00979”, “PR”, " 18.431885", " -66.01270", “Carolina”, “Puerto Rico”  
“00982”, “PR”, " 18.409345", " -65.99313", “Carolina”, “Puerto Rico”  
“00983”, “PR”, " 18.414408", " -65.97582", “Carolina”, “Puerto Rico”  
“00985”, “PR”, " 18.374896", " -65.94691", “Carolina”, “Puerto Rico”  
“00987”, “PR”, " 18.372228", " -65.96275", “Carolina”, “Puerto Rico”  
“009HH”, “PR”, " 18.435287", " -66.06653", “”, “Puerto Rico”

and here’s the error message I got

$ ./test\_slurp.rb  
‘00968’ ‘PR’ ’ 18.408479’ ’ -66.10250’ ‘Guaynabo’ ‘Puerto Rico’  
An error occurred  
Error code: 1064  
Error message: 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  
‘long,city,state)  
VALUES(’‘00968’’, ’ ‘PR’’, ’ ’ 18.408’ at line  
1

thanks for your help gang.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dreamwave](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@dreamwave](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dreamwave)\
**Post date:** [June 9, 2008, 12:30am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-do-i-debug-mysql-syntax-problems-in-ruby-code/139907/2 "2008-06-09T00:30:34Z")

</div>

I figured this out. I was using a reserved word.

On Sun, Jun 8, 2008 at 2:21 PM, Michael L. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)