title: Using a function in mysql function and passing into database query
body: <p>I have a funnction called <strong>time_elapsed_string</strong> which converts the mysql function <strong>NOW()</strong> to another format.</p>
  
  <p>How do I pass the function to the mysql function and use in a pdo statement.</p>
  
  <pre><code>$lastseen = time_elapsed_string(NOW());
  $query = $pdo-&gt;prepare("UPDATE users SET lastseen = 
  :lastseen WHERE id=:id");
  $query-&gt;bindParam(':id', $userid, PDO::PARAM_INT);
  $query-&gt;bindParam(':lastseen', $lastseen);
  $query-&gt;execute();
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I get this error - <strong>Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function NOW()</strong></p>