PHP function returns array when result should not be an array

Question

I am very new to PHP. I have a function that should return a single record containing a single column, 1 or 0:

function is_pitcher($player_id)  {
  global $db;
  $query = 'SELECT IF (position = 1, 1, 0) AS is_pitcher FROM players WHERE player_id = :player_id';
  $statement = $db->prepare($query);
  $statement->bindValue(':player_id', $player_id);
  $statement->execute();
  $is_pitcher = $statement->fetchAll();
  $statement->closeCursor();
  return $is_pitcher;

On my control page, I have an IF statement that evaluates $is_pitcher for values 1 and 0:

if ($action == 'get_player') {
  $player_id = filter_input(INPUT_GET, 'player_id');
  $is_pitcher = is_pitcher($player_id);
if ($is_pitcher == 1) {...

Testing the value with echo $is_pitcher shows that it's an array, and thus can't be evaluated this way. I have tried the function with both fetch() and fetchAll() with the same result.

I can get the value of $is_pitcher with echo $is_pitcher['is_pitcher'] but doing so on the control page breaks it.

Is there a way to write the function that does not return an array? Or, is there a way to evaluate the variable as an array?

ETA: In answer to a comment, here's the structure of the array:

array ( 0 => array ( 'is_pitcher' => '0', 0 => '0', ), )

can you show us the structure of the array in $is_pitcher, use var_export($is_pitcher); — jibsteroos
– jibsteroos, Commented Nov 22, 2019 at 20:41
fetchAll always returns an array (array can be length of 1), try $is_pitcher[0] — Daniel Krom
– Daniel Krom, Commented Nov 22, 2019 at 20:43
You can reference $is_pitcher[0]['is_pitcher'] - i.e. if ($is_pitcher[0]['is_pitcher'] == 1) {... — lovelace
– lovelace, Commented Nov 22, 2019 at 21:02

Eric Day · Accepted Answer · 2019-11-22 22:56:39Z

1

From https://www.php.net/manual/en/pdostatement.fetchall.php

PDOStatement::fetchAll — Returns an array containing all of the result set rows So, yes, it should be an array, even with one result.

answered Nov 22, 2019 at 22:56

Eric Day

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