The UPDATE statement is used to modify data in a database table.

Update Data In a Database

The UPDATE statement is used to modify data in a database table.

Syntax

UPDATE table_name
SET column_name = new_value
WHERE column_name = some_value

To get PHP to execute the statement above we must use the mysql_query() function. This function is used to send a query or command to a MySQL connection.

Example

Earlier in the tutorial we created a table named "Person". Here is how it looks:

The following example updates some data in the "Person" table:

<?php
$con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123");
if (!$con)
  {
  die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
  }

mysql_select_db("my_db", $con);

mysql_query("UPDATE Person SET Age = '36'
WHERE FirstName = 'Peter' AND LastName = 'Griffin'");

mysql_close($con);
?>

After the update, the "Person" table will look like this: