SELECT query
Selecting Data from the Database
Now I have some data in my database (I added a few more lines using the form), I want to display them on the page. Below the form code in index.php, I added the below…
<ul>
<?php
$sql = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM form_test");
while ($row = mysql_fetch_row($sql)) {
echo "<li>$row[0] $row[1]</li>";
}
?>
</ul>
This has now produced a list of all the entrys that are currently held within the database. I would now like to build that list into a menu that will take the user to an individual page to display the content on it’s own. In retrospect, had I planned to do this from the start, I would have added another column in the table called ‘title’ and used that for the menu. However, I didn’t so the row ID will have to do and just imagine it’s the title!!
<ul>
<?php
$sql = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM form_test");
while ($row = mysql_fetch_row($sql)) {
echo "<li><a href=\"results.php?id=$row[0]\">$row[0]</li>";
}
?>
</ul>
I now have a list on the screen with just the ID of the row going from 1 to 6, each as a hyperlink pointing at ‘results.php?id=’ and the id number. Fantastic! We’re getting somewhere! To build results.php, I’m going to use the $_GET[id] string, but before I do that I’m going to put it into it’s own variable of $id should I need to use it again on the page.
<?php
$id = $_GET[id];
$sql = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM form_test WHERE id=$id");
while ($row = mysql_fetch_row($sql)) {
echo "<h1>$id</h1><p>$row[1]</p>";
}
?>
Excellent! Now to work out what we’re going to do with this new knowledge…
