Question

So here is the table I get from a query:

----------+----+-----------+----------------------
45678-sm-w| 18 |T-Shirts   | Mens clothing
----------+----+-----------+----------------------
45678-sm-b|  5 |T-Shirts   | Mens clothing
----------+----+-----------+----------------------
2189-L-Wh |  4 | Socks     | Juniors Clothing
----------+----+-----------+----------------------
2189-L-Bl |  3 | Socks     | Juniors Clothing
----------+----+-----+-----+----------------------

I want to put into a report the looks like:

T-Shirts
----------+----+-----------+----------------------
45678-sm-w| 18 |T-Shirts   | Mens clothing
----------+----+-----------+----------------------
45678-sm-b|  5 |T-Shirts   | Mens clothing
----------+----+-----------+----------------------

Socks
 ----------+----+-----------+----------------------
2189-L-Wh |  4 | Socks     | Juniors Clothing
----------+----+-----------+----------------------
2189-L-Bl |  3 | Socks     | Juniors Clothing
----------+----+-----+-----+----------------------

I know it is done through a loop but cannot figure it out. Thanks!

Answer 1

Try ordering your query by item type and force a header when the current header changes.

$res = mysql_query("select * from clothing order by item_type, item_size");

$item_type=null;
while ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($res)) {
    if ($item_type != $row['item_type']) {
        $item_type = $row['item_type'];
        echo $item_type . "\r\n";
    }
    echo $row["item_name"];
    echo $row["item_size"];
    echo $row["item_desc"];
}