php and sql query failing

<?php
session_start(); //ommit, no session var used

//use braces, always!
//you may write such statements with the short form like
if (isset($_GET['cmd'])) : $cmd = $_GET['cmd']; else : die (_MSG_NO_PARAM); endif;

$query = '';
//escpae your input - very important for security! sql injection!
if ( isset ($_GET["query"]))
{
    $query = mysql_real_escape_string($_GET["query"]);
}
//no need for the other part you had here

$con = mysql_connect("localhost", "root", "geheim");

if (!$con) : die ('Connection failed. Error: '.mysql_error()); endif;

mysql_select_db("ebay", $con);

if ($cmd == "GetRecordSet")
{
    $table = 'Auctions';
    $rows = getRowsByArticleSearch($searchString, $table);

    //use PHP_EOL instead of n in order to make your script more portable

    echo "<h1>Table: {$table}</h1>".PHP_EOL;
    echo "<table border='1' width='100%'><tr>".PHP_EOL;
    echo "<td width='33%'>Seller ID</td>".PHP_EOL;
    echo "<td width='33%'>Start Date</td>".PHP_EOL;
    echo "<td width='33%'>Description</td>".PHP_EOL;
    echo "</tr>n";

    // printing table rows
    foreach ($rows as $row)
    {
        $pk = $row['ARTICLE_NO'];
        echo '<tr>'.PHP_EOL;
        echo '<td><a href="#" onclick="GetAuctionData(''.$pk.'')">'.$row['USERNAME'].'</a></td>'.PHP_EOL;
        echo '<td><a href="#" onclick="GetAuctionData(''.$pk.'')">'.$row['ACCESSSTARTS'].'</a></td>'.PHP_EOL;
        echo '<td><a href="#" onclick="GetAuctionData(''.$pk.'')">'.$row['ARTICLE_NAME'].'</a></td>'.PHP_EOL;
        echo '</tr>'.PHP_EOL;
    }
}
mysql_free_result($result);
//mysql_close($con); no need to close connection, you better don't


function getRowsByArticleSearch($searchString, $table)
{
    $searchString = mysql_real_escape_string($searchString);
    $result = mysql_query("SELECT ARTICLE_NO, USERNAME, ACCESSSTARTS, ARTICLE_NAME FROM {$table} WHERE upper ARTICLE_NAME LIKE '%" . $searchString . "%'");
    if($result === false) {
            return mysql_error();
    }
    $rows = array();
    while($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)) {
            $rows[] = $row;
    }
    return $rows;
}

// ?> ommit closing php tag

"SELECT ARTICLE_NO, USERNAME, ACCESSSTARTS, ARTICLE_NAME
FROM {$table} WHERE upper ARTICLE_NAME LIKE'%$query%'"

"SELECT ARTICLE_NO, USERNAME, ACCESSSTARTS, ARTICLE_NAME
FROM {$table} WHERE upper(ARTICLE_NAME) LIKE'%$query%'"

$result = mysql_query($sql_query) or die(mysql_error());

function searchQuery($text) {
	$text = mysql_real_escape_string($text);
	$result = mysql_query("SELECT ARTICLE_NO, USERNAME, ACCESSSTARTS, ARTICLE_NAME FROM {$table} WHERE upper ARTICLE_NAME LIKE '%" . $text . "%'");
	if($result === false) {
		return mysql_error();
	}
	$rows = array();
	while($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)) {
		$rows[] = $row;
	}
	return $rows;
}

$result = searchQuery($_GET['query']);
 if(!is_array($result) ) {
      echo 'An error has occurred:' . $result;
 } else {
   //iterate over rows
 }