Why won't MySQL database accept apostrophes ( ' ) I get an error each time I insert them into tables?

Answer 1

Because apostrophe has special meaning in MySQL; MySQL treats it as a single quote. So when you run a query like this:

INSERT INTO myTable SET lastName = 'O'Connell';

MySQL thinks that the apostrophe after the "O" is a closing single quote, and "Connell'" is the next SQL clause, which, of course, it isn't; hence, the error.

To prevent this from happening, you must escape the apostrophe with a backward slash:

INSERT INTO myTable SET lastName = 'O\'Connell';

Answer 2

if you are using php to enter the data into the mysql database all you need to do is use the addslashes function and it will escape all the ' in your variable...
addslashes($myString);

Answer 3

They indicate a string is enclosed. If you want to embed, use:

\' (\ is the escape character telling it to take the next character literally).