Escaping apostrophe/single quote in parameterized sql in asp

Question

I'm new to parametrized SQL. I've got a query in an .asp page that's getting one or more client names from a form. These are held in an array called clientArr and then passed through to SQL server as parameters. I'm escaping the ' as '' but this doesn't appear to be working. If I run the query with a client name like McDonald's, it returns no results.

clientArr(y) = Replace(clientArr(y),"'","''"

...

if qsClient > "" Then
    dim booComma
    booComma = false
    if mySQLwhere > "" Then
        mySQLwhere = mySQLwhere& " AND "
    End if
    mySQLwhere = mySQLwhere & " (p.client IN ( "
    for y = 0 to Ubound(clientArr)
        if booComma = true Then 
            mySQLwhere = mySQLwhere & ","
        end if
        mySQLwhere = mySQLwhere & "?"
        booComma = true
    Next
    mySQLwhere = mySQLwhere & ")) "
end if

...

if qsClient > "" Then
    for y = 0 to Ubound(clientArr)
        Response.write clientArr(y)
        set prm = cmd.CreateParameter("@prm", 129, 1, 50, clientArr(y))
        cmd.Parameters.Append prm
    next
end if

If I run the query directly or create it by concatenating strings rather then use parameters, it works fine. It also works fine is I use a client name without an apostrophe.

Any help would be much appreciated. Happy to provide more info if I can.

Thanks, Tim

Answer 1

After working on this for far too long, it just hit me. Passing the parameter straight through like this means that I don't need to escape it at all. If I remove that replace statement, it works just fine keeping the single quote. I was definitely over-thinking this.