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I've been playing around with sqlite3, and I get an sqlite3.OperationalError: near "sweet": syntax error for this line of my code query_cursor.execute("INSERT INTO mcdonalds_menu VALUES(%d, %s, %f, %s, %d)" % (ids[num],names[num], price[num], descriptions[num], calories[num])) When I put in the values in 3 separate queries the code seems to work, but I'm trying to keep my code more DRY by using a for loop. The code so far:

import sqlite3

filename = sqlite3.connect("McDonalds_Menu.db")
query_cursor = filename.cursor()

def create_table():
    query_cursor.execute( "CREATE TABLE mcdonalds_menu (id INTEGER, name VARCHAR(20), price DECIMAL(3, 2), description TEXT, calories INTEGER)")

ids = range(1,4)
names = ["McFlurry", "Fillet-o-Fish", "McCafe"]
price = 1.50, 2.25, 0.99
descriptions = ["Delicious sweet icecream", "Best fish in the sea", "Freshly brewed Colombian coffee"]
calories = 220, 450, 75

def data_entry():
    for num in xrange(3):
        query_cursor.execute("INSERT INTO mcdonalds_menu VALUES(%d, %s, %f, %s, %d)" % (ids[num], names[num], price[num], descriptions[num], calories[num]))    
    filename.commit()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    create_table()
    data_entry()

Is it possible to string format a sql query using a loop?

Answers

SQL needs strings in VALUES to be quoted. Integers and floats do not need to be quoted.

In the commented output below, notice that the SQL VALUES contains unquoted strings for "Fillet-o-Fish" and "Best fish in the sea":

sql = "INSERT INTO mcdonalds_menu VALUES(%d, %s, %f, %s, %d)".format(ids[num], names[num], price[num], descriptions[num], calories[num])
# INSERT INTO mcdonalds_menu VALUES(2, Fillet-o-Fish, 2.250000, Best fish in the sea, 450)

Adding some escaped quotes around your string values produces valid SQL:

sql = "INSERT INTO mcdonalds_menu VALUES(%d, \"%s\", %f, \"%s\", %d)" % (ids[num],names[num], price[num], descriptions[num], calories[num])
# INSERT INTO mcdonalds_menu VALUES(2, "Fillet-o-Fish", 2.250000, "Best fish in the sea", 450)