Question

1) Count record:

//Connect to mysql server
$link = mysql_connect(HOST, USER, PASSWORD);
if(!$link) {
    die('Could not connect to server: ' . mysql_error());
}

//Select database
$db = mysql_select_db(DATABASE);
if(!$db) {
    die("cannot use the database");
}
mysql_set_charset('charset=utf8',$link); 

$query="SELECT `id`FROM `table` WHERE `abc`='123'";
$result=mysql_query($query);               
$count= mysql_num_rows($result);

I am using this to count the record. The table has 500K records. What is the best practice to count the records?

2) I am beginner @ mysql and php. Did I miss something in the above script? I think I need to close mysql connection in the end !

Answer 1

mysql has a count function:

http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/counting-rows.html

so you could use:

SELECT COUNT(*) FROM table WHERE abc=123

or whatever condition.