Correct syntax for database inserts from plugin?

Question

I'm testing a script to create a database insert. Is this the correct syntax for the insert or do I need to obtain a reference to global $wpdb and use that?

<?php
/*
Plugin Name: Test Database Insert
*/

function test_db_insert()
{
INSERT wp_terms(term_id, 'name', slug) VALUES (1, 'test', 'test');
INSERT wp_term_taxonomy(term_taxonomy_id, term_id, taxonomy, parent) VALUES (1, 1, 'category', 0);
INSERT wp_term_relationships(object_id, term_taxonomy_id, term_order) VALUES (1, 1, 0);
}

register_activation_hook(__FILE__, 'test_db_insert');

Answer 1

This seems like raw SQL that won't make sense to PHP at all.

You can run this queries, as raw queries using $wpdb->query() but it's more proper to use its $wpdb->insert() method.

See wpdb Class > INSERT rows in Codex.

Answer 2

You shouldn't need to use SQL at all for that. Replace it with:

wp_set_object_terms(1, 'test', 'taxonomy_name');

…where taxonomy_name is the name of the taxonomy.