MySQL PDO Error: ‘Data too long for column’ when passing a boolean parameter for a BIT column

The only similar question I have found is: Insert php boolean into mysql bit column with Zend_Db but this has no answer.

Please see below a simplified test:

The ‘allow’ column type is BIT.
The ‘roleID’ column type is INT.
The ‘permID’ column type is INT.

$dbo = new PDO("mysql:dbname=database;host=127.0.0.1", "phpuser", "pass");

$query = $dbo->prepare("INSERT INTO ws_role_perms (allow, roleID, permID)
                            VALUES (:allow, :roleID, :permID)");

$query->bindValue("allow", true, PDO::PARAM_BOOL);
$query->bindValue("roleID", 1, PDO::PARAM_STR);
$query->bindValue("permID", 2, PDO::PARAM_STR);

if ($query->execute() == false) {
    throw new Exception(print_r($query->errorInfo(), true));
}

The error message I receive is:

Array (
    [0] => 22001
    [1] => 1406
    [2] => Data too long for column 'allow' at row 1
)

If I attempt to put the equivalent query straight into MySQL, i.e. by running the query: INSERT INTO ws_role_perms (allow, roleID, permID) VALUES (true, 1, 2) I have no problems.

Is this a bug in the MySQL PDO driver, or is it just me?

Many thanks in anticipation of your help.

Answer

It seems as though PHP is not interpreting ‘true’ as a boolean. PHP.NET indicates that PDO::PARAM_BOOL is an integer. The MySQL interpretation of a column with datatype ‘bit’ changed after around version 5.0. What this means is that PHP is probably trying to insert a full integer (32 bits) into a column that has an unpredictable number of bits (1-64).