Delete row in database table given one column value - which is a string

Question

I have a table with column headings: | _id (long) | Name (String) | x (integer) | y (integer) |

I want to delete the row in the table that has Name myName.

// In onCreate
dbHelper = new DBAdapter(this);
dbHelper.open()

// Function in DBAdapter class
public boolean deleteTitleGivenName(String myName) 
{
    return dbHelper.delete(DATABASE_TABLE_2, KEY_NAME + "=" + myName, null) > 0;
}

// Function call in java code
dbHelper.deleteTitleGivenName(myName);  // this is where my code fails  

dbHelper.close();           

Just as a note: myName is for sure in the database. Also, I can not use the ROWID since I am getting myName from a ListView.

I just started programming with Android and I have tried for days to solve this problem. Is my WHERE clause correct (KEY_NAME + "=" + myName)?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Try putting the value of the where clause in quotes...

KEY_NAME + "='" + myName + "'"

Also, it is bad practice (generally) to use a string-based WHERE clause. This is because if my name has an apostrophe in it, your app will not work. You should probably look for an alternative way to delete records from a database on Android.

Answer 2

Sure, that works, although I would recommend

dbHelper.delete(DATABASE_TABLE_2, KEY_NAME + "=?", new String[] { myName })

for safety reasons. That way, you can have special characters without breaking your query. Did this not work?