Debugging SQL Syntax Error in Magento Extension - magento

Question

I’m fairly new to Magento and encounter this error when I try to debug an extension I installed recently. I’m trying to understand the log, but left wondering what exactly is the problem. Can anyone tell me where I should start debugging based on the following log?
SQLSTATE[42000]: Syntax error or access violation: 1064 You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near 'AS `query_id`, `s`.`product_id`, MATCH (s.data_index) AGAINST ('' IN BOOLEAN MOD' at line 1
Trace:
#0 /var/www/html/springmaternity/lib/Varien/Db/Statement/Pdo/Mysql.php(110): Zend_Db_Statement_Pdo->_execute(Array)
#1 /var/www/html/springmaternity/app/code/core/Zend/Db/Statement.php(291): Varien_Db_Statement_Pdo_Mysql->_execute(Array)
#2 /var/www/html/springmaternity/lib/Zend/Db/Adapter/Abstract.php(480): Zend_Db_Statement->execute(Array)
#3 /var/www/html/springmaternity/lib/Zend/Db/Adapter/Pdo/Abstract.php(238): Zend_Db_Adapter_Abstract->query('INSERT INTO `ca...', Array)
#4 /var/www/html/springmaternity/lib/Varien/Db/Adapter/Pdo/Mysql.php(428): Zend_Db_Adapter_Pdo_Abstract->query('INSERT INTO `ca...', Array)
#5 /var/www/html/springmaternity/app/code/core/Mage/CatalogSearch/Model/Resource/Fulltext.php(393): Varien_Db_Adapter_Pdo_Mysql->query('INSERT INTO `ca...', Array)
#6 /var/www/html/springmaternity/app/code/core/Mage/CatalogSearch/Model/Fulltext.php(136): Mage_CatalogSearch_Model_Resource_Fulltext->prepareResult(Object(Mage_CatalogSearch_Model_Fulltext), '', Object(Yireo_DisableLog_Model_Rewrite_Catalogsearch_Query))
#7 /var/www/html/springmaternity/app/code/core/Mage/CatalogSearch/Model/Resource/Fulltext/Collection.php(55): Mage_CatalogSearch_Model_Fulltext->prepareResult()
#8 /var/www/html/springmaternity/app/code/core/Mage/CatalogSearch/Model/Layer.php(58): Mage_CatalogSearch_Model_Resource_Fulltext_Collection->addSearchFilter('')
#9 /var/www/html/springmaternity/app/code/community/Rayfox/Catalog/Model/Search/Layer.php(18): Mage_CatalogSearch_Model_Layer->prepareProductCollection(Object(Mage_CatalogSearch_Model_Resource_Fulltext_Collection))
#10 /var/www/html/springmaternity/app/code/core/Mage/CatalogSearch/Model/Layer.php(42): Rayfox_Catalog_Model_Search_Layer->prepareProductCollection(Object(Mage_CatalogSearch_Model_Resource_Fulltext_Collection))
#11 /var/www/html/springmaternity/app/code/core/Mage/Catalog/Model/Layer.php(290): Mage_CatalogSearch_Model_Layer->getProductCollection()
#12 /var/www/html/springmaternity/app/code/core/Mage/Catalog/Model/Layer.php(220): Mage_Catalog_Model_Layer->_getSetIds()
#13 /var/www/html/springmaternity/app/code/core/Mage/Catalog/Block/Layer/View.php(163): Mage_Catalog_Model_Layer->getFilterableAttributes()
#14 /var/www/html/springmaternity/app/code/local/FME/Layerednav/Block/Layer/View.php(85): Mage_Catalog_Block_Layer_View->_getFilterableAttributes()
#15 /var/www/html/springmaternity/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Block/Abstract.php(293): FME_Layerednav_Block_Layer_View->_prepareLayout()
#16 /var/www/html/springmaternity/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Model/Layout.php(456): Mage_Core_Block_Abstract->setLayout(Object(Mage_Core_Model_Layout))
#17 /var/www/html/springmaternity/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Model/Layout.php(472): Mage_Core_Model_Layout->createBlock('layerednav/sear...', 'layer')
#18 /var/www/html/springmaternity/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Model/Layout.php(239): Mage_Core_Model_Layout->addBlock('layerednav/sear...', 'layer')
#19 /var/www/html/springmaternity/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Model/Layout.php(205): Mage_Core_Model_Layout->_generateBlock(Object(Mage_Core_Model_Layout_Element), Object(Mage_Core_Model_Layout_Element))
#20 /var/www/html/springmaternity/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Controller/Varien/Action.php(344): Mage_Core_Model_Layout->generateBlocks()
#21 /var/www/html/springmaternity/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Controller/Varien/Action.php(269): Mage_Core_Controller_Varien_Action->generateLayoutBlocks()
#22 /var/www/html/springmaternity/app/code/local/FME/Layerednav/controllers/FrontController.php(54): Mage_Core_Controller_Varien_Action->loadLayout()
#23 /var/www/html/springmaternity/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Controller/Varien/Action.php(418): FME_Layerednav_FrontController->searchAction()
#24 /var/www/html/springmaternity/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Controller/Varien/Router/Standard.php(254): Mage_Core_Controller_Varien_Action->dispatch('search')
#25 /var/www/html/springmaternity/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Controller/Varien/Front.php(172): Mage_Core_Controller_Varien_Router_Standard->match(Object(Mage_Core_Controller_Request_Http))
#26 /var/www/html/springmaternity/app/code/core/Mage/Core/Model/App.php(354): Mage_Core_Controller_Varien_Front->dispatch()
#27 /var/www/html/springmaternity/app/Mage.php(684): Mage_Core_Model_App->run(Array)
#28 /var/www/html/springmaternity/sg/index.php(90): Mage::run('sg', 'website')
#29 {main}

Answer 1

If you have a model, that is doing query and you are curious what the SQL that will be generated you have a few choices,
My favorite is to use the following
$collection = Mage::getModel('customcodes/code')->getCollection()
->addFieldToSelect('code')
->addFieldToFilter('order_id',array('eq'=>247938))
->addFieldToFilter('code_type',array('eq'=>'CODESQAC'));
$sql = $collection->getSelect()->__toString();
And then $sql would have
SELECT `main_table`.`code` FROM `custom_codes` AS `main_table` WHERE (`order_id` = 247938) AND (`code_type` = 'CODESQAC')
Now you can work through the Magneto syntax to figure out why its not pulling the results OR throwing errors like you are seeing.
It sounds like you know where the Magento code is coming from, so using this method will help you figure out if the syntax they used was incorrect.
Also, check the code for hard coded table names instead of using the Magento factory method and/or calls to specific table names rather than using something like the follwoing to get the actual table name ( you could have a table name prefix and the original code could just be hard coded )
$resource = Mage::getSingleton('core/resource');
$customer_table = $resource->getTableName('customer/entity');
Here is an example of using the hard coded table names rather than using configuration to get the table table name, in the case of table name prefixes
$collection->getSelect()->joinLeft(array('sfoa'=>'sales_flat_order_address'), 'main_table.entity_id = sfoa.parent_id and sfoa.address_type = \'billing\'', array('sfoa.company'));
The proper way would be something like this
$resource = Mage::getSingleton('core/resource');
$sales_table = $resource->getTableName('sales/order_address');
$collection->getSelect()->joinLeft(array('sfoa'=>$sales_table), 'main_table.entity_id = sfoa.parent_id and sfoa.address_type = \'billing\'', array('sfoa.company'));
Hopefully this will help you check for bad syntax and eventually how and what the actual SQL is being created.