I have code such as the following:

my $numParams = 1;
my $SQL = 'SELECT syslog_timestamp, syslog_host, syslog_text
             FROM syslog
            WHERE syslog_text like ?';

if ($begMonth)
{
    $begDate = "$begYear\-$begMonth\-$begDay 00:00:00";
    $endDate = "$endYear\-$endMonth\-$endDay 23:59:59";
    $SQL .= ' AND syslog_timestamp >= ?';
    $SQL .= ' AND syslog_timestamp <= ?';
    $numParams += 2;
}

my $sth = $dbh->prepare($SQL);

if ($numParams == 1)
{
    my $DBquery= $sth->execute($SearchPhrase);
}
elsif ($numParams == 3)
{
    my $DBquery= $sth->execute($SearchPhrase, $begDate, $endDate);
}
[download]

I've narrowed the following problem down to the involvement of $begDate and $endDate. Here's what's happening:

When I execute this, it always returns 0 rows. I've omitted some code which displays the contents of $SQL to me, as well as code which displays the contents of $begDate and $endDate. When I cut and paste the contents of $SQL and the values of $begDate and $endDate into the MySQL commandline, it returns over 1,000 rows (which is what I would expect). If I don't give it $begDate or $endDate, it works fine. However, any time I use the date logic, it returns 0 rows and no errors.

Also, if I omit the placeholders and construct the following:

if ($begMonth)
{
    $begDate = "$begYear\-$begMonth\-$begDay 00:00:00";
    $endDate = "$endYear\-$endMonth\-$endDay 23:59:59";
    $SQL .= " AND syslog_timestamp >= '$begDate'";
    $SQL .= " AND syslog_timestamp <= '$endDate'";
}
[download]

It works like a charm, returning in excess of 1,000 rows.

So, I'm apparently missing something obvious in the placeholder construction/execution. Any suggestions?

(Note: Typos in the above are due to cut and paste errors.)

If things get any worse, I'll have to ask you to stop helping me.