MySQL in a Nutshell

Name

QUOTE( )

Synopsis

QUOTE(string)

This function returns a value as an input-safe string for a given string enclosed in single quotes. Single quotes, backslashes, ASCII NULLs, and Ctrl-Zs contained in the string are escaped with a backslash. This is a useful security measure when accepting values from a public web interface.

SELECT QUOTE(course_name) AS Courses
FROM courses
WHERE course_name LIKE "%'%" LIMIT 1;
+-------------------+
| Courses           |
+-------------------+
| Works of O\'Henry |
+-------------------+

In the WHERE clause of this SQL statement, the LIKE operator is used to find courses with a single quote in their names. The % is a wildcard. Because of the QUOTE() function, the single quote in the field returned is escaped with a backslash.