sanitize_sql_orderby() │ WP 2.5.1

Ensures a string is a valid SQL 'order by' clause.

Accepts one or more columns, with or without a sort order (ASC / DESC). e.g. 'column_1', 'column_1, column_2', 'column_1 ASC, column_2 DESC' etc.

Also accepts 'RAND()'.

No Hooks.

Return

String|false. Returns $orderby if valid, false otherwise.

Usage

sanitize_sql_orderby( $orderby );

$orderby(string) (required): Order by clause to be validated.

Examples

#1 Checking ORDER BY part of SQL query

// OK example
$orderby = ' col1 ASC ';
$orderby = sanitize_sql_orderby( $orderby ); // string(10) " col1 ASC "

// ERROR example
$orderby = sanitize_sql_orderby( ' col-1 ASC ' ); // bool(false)

Changelog

Since 2.5.1

Introduced.

Code of `sanitize_sql_orderby() sanitize sql orderby` ^{WP 5.9.3}

wp-includes/formatting.php

function sanitize_sql_orderby( $orderby ) {
	if ( preg_match( '/^\s*(([a-z0-9_]+|`[a-z0-9_]+`)(\s+(ASC|DESC))?\s*(,\s*(?=[a-z0-9_`])|$))+$/i', $orderby ) || preg_match( '/^\s*RAND\(\s*\)\s*$/i', $orderby ) ) {
		return $orderby;
	}
	return false;
}