Question

I’m writing a small application that will write the contents of a csv file to a database in CodeIgniter, but I’m having difficulty checking for dupes before write. Since this is a fairly common task, I was wondering how some of the professionals (you) do it. For context and comparison, here is my (currently non-working) code:

        $sql = "SELECT * FROM salesperson WHERE salesperson_name='" . $csvarray['salesperson_name'][$i] . "'";
        $already_exists = $this->db->query($sql); 

        if (sizeof($already_exists) > 0) {

            //add to database

        }

Any input at all short of “You suck!” (I already hear that from my own brain twice an hour at this point) will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Answer 1

What you’re doing will work, but as above the comparison should be “== 0” not “> 0”.

You can also use CodeIgniters built in num_rows method instead of using sizeof, like so:

$sql = "your query";
$query = $this->db->query($sql);

if ($query->num_rows() == 0) {
  // no duplicates found, add new record
}

As a side note, if you’re using CodeIgniter then it’s worthwhile to use Active Record to build your queries instead of writing SQL. You can learn more about it here: CodeIgniter – Active Record