Php – Warning: thesqli_query() expects parameter 1 to be thesqli, string given in

A query may fail for various reasons in which case both the mysql_* and the mysqli extension will return false from their respective query functions/methods. You need to test for that error condition and handle it accordingly.

mysql_* extension:

NOTE The mysql_ functions are deprecated and have been removed in php version 7.

Check $result before passing it to mysql_fetch_array. You'll find that it's false because the query failed. See the mysql_query documentation for possible return values and suggestions for how to deal with them.

$username = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['username']);
$password = $_POST['password'];
$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM Users WHERE UserName LIKE '$username'");

if($result === FALSE) { 
    die(mysql_error()); // TODO: better error handling
}

while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result))
{
    echo $row['FirstName'];
}

mysqli extension
procedural style:

$username = mysqli_real_escape_string($mysqli, $_POST['username']);
$result = mysqli_query($mysqli, "SELECT * FROM Users WHERE UserName LIKE '$username'");

// mysqli_query returns false if something went wrong with the query
if($result === FALSE) { 
    yourErrorHandler(mysqli_error($mysqli));
}
else {
    // as of php 5.4 mysqli_result implements Traversable, so you can use it with foreach
    foreach( $result as $row ) {
        ...

oo-style:

$username = $mysqli->escape_string($_POST['username']);
$result = $mysqli->query("SELECT * FROM Users WHERE UserName LIKE '$username'");

if($result === FALSE) { 
    yourErrorHandler($mysqli->error); // or $mysqli->error_list
}
else {
    // as of php 5.4 mysqli_result implements Traversable, so you can use it with foreach
    foreach( $result as $row ) {
      ...

using a prepared statement:

$stmt = $mysqli->prepare('SELECT * FROM Users WHERE UserName LIKE ?');
if ( !$stmt ) {
    yourErrorHandler($mysqli->error); // or $mysqli->error_list
}
else if ( !$stmt->bind_param('s', $_POST['username']) ) {
    yourErrorHandler($stmt->error); // or $stmt->error_list
}
else if ( !$stmt->execute() ) {
    yourErrorHandler($stmt->error); // or $stmt->error_list
}
else {
    $result = $stmt->get_result();
    // as of php 5.4 mysqli_result implements Traversable, so you can use it with foreach
    foreach( $result as $row ) {
      ...

These examples only illustrate what should be done (error handling), not how to do it. Production code shouldn't use or die when outputting HTML, else it will (at the very least) generate invalid HTML. Also, database error messages shouldn't be displayed to non-admin users, as it discloses too much information.

Incrementing / Decrementing Operators

++ increment operator

-- decrement operator

Example    Name              Effect
---------------------------------------------------------------------
++$a       Pre-increment     Increments $a by one, then returns $a.
$a++       Post-increment    Returns $a, then increments $a by one.
--$a       Pre-decrement     Decrements $a by one, then returns $a.
$a--       Post-decrement    Returns $a, then decrements $a by one.

These can go before or after the variable.

If put before the variable, the increment/decrement operation is done to the variable first then the result is returned. If put after the variable, the variable is first returned, then the increment/decrement operation is done.

For example:

$apples = 10;
for ($i = 0; $i < 10; ++$i) {
    echo 'I have ' . $apples-- . " apples. I just ate one.\n";
}

Live example

In the case above ++$i is used, since it is faster. $i++ would have the same results.

Pre-increment is a little bit faster because it really increments the variable and after that 'returns' the result. Post-increment creates a special variable, copies there the value of the first variable and only after the first variable is used, replaces its value with second's.

However, you must use $apples--, since first, you want to display the current number of apples, and then you want to subtract one from it.

You can also increment letters in PHP:

$i = "a";
while ($i < "c") {
    echo $i++;
}

Once z is reached aa is next, and so on.

Note that character variables can be incremented but not decremented and even so only plain ASCII characters (a-z and A-Z) are supported.

Stack Overflow Posts:

• Understanding Incrementing