Question

I have an array of post_ids

$ids = array( 
    [0] => 32 
    [1] => 33 
    [2] => 21 
    [3] => 11 
    [4] => 13 
    [5] => 17 
    [6] => 41 
    [7] => 88 
    [8] => 92 
    [9] => 94 
    [10] => 96 
    [11] => 106 
    [12] => 117 
    [13] => 187 
    [14] => 220 
);

I want to get a column in database table where the post_id matches the ids in the above array. the table is structured like this

post_id | meta_key | meta_value

Currently, I’m using foreach ($ids as $id) to query a var one by one. This is inefficient with large data sets . Is there a way to query the meta_value column by the $ids array?

Answer 1

This is not the most efficient way but it works

$idList = implode(",",$ids);

now your query

$query = "SELECT * FROM posts 
          WHERE post_id IN ($idList);";

at least now it is reduced to one query

Update:

To secure from SQL injection when you populate your array make sure the your database input is safe:

// if you are populating your array this way here is the trick
$ids = array();
foreach ($inputValues as $value){
   $ids[] = (int) $value; // this makes sure your input is an integer
}