php mysql comparison op question

[wxdqz]

Hi,

I can't seem to get an ordinary variable query for a text string to work together with a comparison operator. They both work fine separately, as in:

SELECT *
FROM A, B
WHERE A.id = B.id
AND name LIKE '$name%'
AND type LIKE '$type%'

or in:
SELECT *
FROM A, B
WHERE A.id = B.id
AND from_date <= '$year%'
AND (to_date >= '$year%'
OR to_date = '' )

but no records are found, when put together:
SELECT *
FROM A, B
WHERE A.id = B.id
AND name LIKE '$name%'
AND type LIKE '$type%'
AND from_date <= '$year%'
AND (to_date >= '$year%'
OR to_date = '' )

the query does work if I am logged in to the mysql server, but not when I pass the query using PHP.

can anybody help?

thanks, LEX