Question

I am using PHP5 and MySql, I wondered if there was a way of setting variables automatically instead of writing them all out?

I am currently using code such as this:

$sSQL = "SELECT * FROM myTable";
$result = mysqli_query($dbi,$SQL); 

if(mysqli_num_rows($result)==0){} 
else 
 {
   //loop and set array
   while ($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
     $field1 = $row['field1'];
     $field2 = $row['field2'];
     $field3 = $row['field3']; 
   }

  $newArray[] = (array(
        "field1" => "$field1",
        "field2" => "$field2",
        "field3" => "$field3"
      ));

Basically I am setting the variables to the same name as the SQL field names, and then setting an array to the same. I was wondering if there was a quicker way of doing this that writing out all the names by hand? (I also know the select is bad, it’s just there for illustration!)

Answer 1

One option is to use explicit field names in the SQL query and assign each result row directly. Besides, selecting columns with * reduces performance and makes the intent of your query less clear.

$sSQL = "SELECT field1, field2, field3 FROM myTable";

// other code

while ($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
    $newArray[] = $row;
}

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However, if you simply want variables to be created dynamically then extract() might do the trick.