Understanding mysqli_fetch_array()

Question

Is there a way to make the code below cleaner? I wanted to access the rows of $query4week like this: $query4week[0]. But mysqli_query() returns an Object on which I don't know how to access its particular rows. So, using fetch_array and a for loop I decided to create my own index.

$sql2 = "SELECT * FROM meals ORDER BY RAND() LIMIT 7";
$query4week = mysqli_query($con, $sql2) or die(mysqli_error($con));
for ($i = 0; $result = mysqli_fetch_array($query4week, MYSQLI_ASSOC); $i++)
{
    $meal4week[$i] = $result['meal'];
}

I am still learning PHP and yet quite weak with OOP topics, please be patient :-)

ob_start · Accepted Answer · 2015-12-10 22:46:17Z

1

Do it in this way

$i = 0; 
while ($result = mysqli_fetch_array($query4week, MYSQLI_ASSOC))
{
    $meal4week[$i] = $result['meal'];
    $i++;
}

should work.

answered Dec 10, 2015 at 22:46

ob_start

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Comments

Jay Blanchard · Accepted Answer · 2015-12-10 22:50:07Z

1

You shouldn't need a for loop if your fetching an associative array.

$i = 0;
while($row = mysqli_fetch_array($query4week, MYSQLI_ASSOC))
{
    $meal4week[$i] = $row['meal'];
    $i++;
}

edited Dec 10, 2015 at 22:50

answered Dec 10, 2015 at 22:47

Jay Blanchard

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3 Comments

ob_start Over a year ago

If missed the ; the first time too after $i++, badly copy&pasty ;)

Jay Blanchard Over a year ago

@justacoder fixed ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I had gone back to fix quotes in my typing, no copy pasta here.

ob_start Over a year ago

No more missing, just an add to your response ;)

Don't Panic · Accepted Answer · 2015-12-10 23:01:24Z

1

There are already some perfectly reasonable answers here, but this is a little long for a comment. If all you are creating is a numerically indexed array starting with index 0, you don't need to explicitly define the index.

while($row = mysqli_fetch_array($query4week, MYSQLI_ASSOC)) {
    $meal4week[] = $row['meal'];
}

should work just fine. No $i necessary.

answered Dec 10, 2015 at 23:01

Don't Panic

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3 Comments

Lex Over a year ago

Thank you very much for your answer - this is a good alternative and would surely make the code cleaner. But I think @ZeissS answer helps me most, as I wasn't sure if I am doing something over-complicated or if there is an other fetch function which does all that at once.

Don't Panic Over a year ago

That makes sense, that answer is a better explanation. There actually is another fetch function which does it all at once (fetch_all), but as noted in the linked doc, it is available for MySQL Native Driver Only.

Don't Panic Over a year ago

Another option if you want a fetch_all is to use pdo rather than mysqli. But fetching in a while loop is a pretty minor thing to do, and depending on your result set, often a better option anyway.

ZeissS · Accepted Answer · 2015-12-10 22:49:08Z

0

mysqli_query returns you a resource which represents the query result. You need to use the mysql_fetch_* functions to iterate over the result row by row. So yes, you need some kind of loop, if you are interested in more than the first row.

answered Dec 10, 2015 at 22:49

ZeissS

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