I created a MySQL table with a binary column called ‘status’ that defaults to NULL. When I try to update this field using a query, it stores the wrong value.
Here’s my update query:
$update_query = $connection -> query("UPDATE members SET `status` = 1 WHERE `user_id` = '$id_value' LIMIT 1") or die(mysql_error());
Instead of storing 1, the field gets updated to 31. I also tried setting it to true but got the same weird result.
The column was created through phpMyAdmin with these settings: Type is binary(1), allows NULL values, and defaults to NULL. Why is this happening and how can I properly store a 1 in this binary field?
The issue stems from MySQL’s binary data type behavior. When you store integer values in a binary(1) column, MySQL converts them to their ASCII character representation. The number 1 becomes ASCII character ‘1’, which has a decimal value of 49, not 31 as you mentioned. You should verify what’s actually stored by checking the data properly. For boolean-like values, consider using TINYINT(1) instead of binary(1). If you must use binary, you need to store the actual binary representation. Try using UNHEX(‘01’) in your query to store the binary value 1, or switch to a more appropriate data type like TINYINT which handles numeric values correctly without ASCII conversion complications.
wait, where are you seeing 31 exactly? that’s kinda weird since ascii ‘1’ should be 49 like SwimmingFish mentioned. are you checking the value in phpmyadmin or through another query? might be worth dumping the raw hex to see whats actually stored there
binary(1) is tricky - it stores raw bytes not numbers. when you insert ‘1’ it gets converted to ascii which messes things up. honestly just use tinyint(1) for boolean stuff, way easier and no weird conversions happening