Question

i have a table full of data in the form of

value_id value_name value_timestamp

The first 5 columns have the same value name (with different id’s and timestamps)

how would i go about producing a conditional statement that went through and only displayed the first name with the same value. Ie i only want to show row 1, not 5 rows. then i want to display the 6th row’s name as its different

Ive had a go but with no luck –

 $sql = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM Films_Info") 
 or die(mysql_error()); 

while ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($sql)) {
$name = $row['value_name'];  
if ("same as previous"($name)) {
    echo $name;
    }
    else 
    {
     //do nothing 
     }

}

Thanks guys

Table results –

film_id   film_name   film_date
1         example     Thursday
2         example1    Thursday
3         example3    Thursday
4         example4    Friday

So i want to display film_id 1 and its date, but skip 2 and 3 (film_id) as there the same, then display example 4.

Answer 1

Change your sql statement to be specific.

$sql = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM Films_Info WHERE name='{$name}'") or die(mysql_error());

UPDATE: After some chat discussion, this is what you should do:

while ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($sql)) {
    $grouping = $row['film_date'];  
    $movies[$grouping][] = $row
}

This will group your same-date movies into an array for you to manipulate.