Question

I am not sure why, But when I run the following code and there is nothing in the database I get the error [false] when I view the PHP page instead of the correct error message

public function fetchfriends($userid)
{
    $this->userid = $userid;
    $contact_check = mysql_query("
              SELECT *
              FROM user_contact
              WHERE from_userid = '{$this->userid}'
              AND approved   != 1
            ");


if(!mysql_num_rows($contact_check))
        {

                $arr = array("error" => "No Friends?<br/>Search above for New users or invite some friends.");
                print json_encode($arr);
        }
        else
        {
                $friendlook = mysql_query("
                    SELECT friend.to_userid,
                           info.username,
                           info.firstname,
                           info.lastname,
                           info.status,
                           astatus.onlinestatus

                    FROM      user_contact AS friend
                    LEFT JOIN user_info    AS info    ON friend.to_userid = info.id
                    LEFT JOIN user_online  AS astatus ON friend.to_userid = astatus.userid

                    WHERE friend.from_userid = '{$this->userid}'
                      AND friend.approved    = 1
                      AND friend.to_userid   = info.id

                    ORDER BY astatus.onlinestatus DESC
                ");

                $row = mysql_fetch_assoc($friendlook);
                $rows[] = $row;
                print json_encode($rows);
        }
    }

I was wondering if anyone would know why?

Answer 1

You have 2 SQL queries and you only check if the first has any results. The problem is that if the first has results and the second doesn’t you will not get your error message, but the [false] you receive now.

Your code should look something like:

public function fetchfriends($userid)
{
    $this->userid = $userid;
    $contact_check = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM user_contact WHERE from_userid = '{$this->userid}' AND approved != 1");

    if(mysql_num_rows($contact_check))
    {
        $friendlook = mysql_query("SELECT friend.to_userid, info.username, info.firstname, info.lastname, info.status, astatus.onlinestatus FROM user_contact as friend LEFT JOIN user_info as info ON friend.to_userid = info.id LEFT JOIN user_online as astatus ON friend.to_userid = astatus.userid WHERE friend.to_userid = info.id AND friend.from_userid = '{$this->userid}' AND friend.approved = 1 ORDER BY astatus.onlinestatus DESC");

        if (mysql_num_rows($friendlook)) {
            $row = mysql_fetch_assoc($friendlook);
            $rows[] = $row;
            print json_encode($rows);
        } else {
            $arr = array("error" => "Your friends are not online");
            print json_encode($arr);
        }

        return;
    }

    $arr = array("error" => "No Friends?<br/>Search above for New users or invite some friends.");
    print json_encode($arr);
}