Question

This is my php code for displaying the data from the database. I am trying to display the random data from table.

<?php
include('connection.php');
$query="SELECT * FROM `banner_ad` ORDER BY RAND() LIMIT 4";
if($query_run=mysql_query($query))
{
    $i=4;
    $rows=mysql_fetch_array($query_run);
    while($rows)
    {
        echo $rows['banner_no'];
        echo $rows['banner_name'];
        echo "<a href=\"".$rows['Banner_website_url']. "\">";
        echo "<img src=\"".$rows['banner_image_url']."\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">";
        echo"</a>";
    }
} else {
    echo'<font color="red"> Query does not run. </font>';
}
?>

But the problem with this code is:

It is displaying nothing. But whenever I am trying to make a little modification in the above code like:

<?php
include('connection.php');
$query="SELECT * FROM `banner_ad` ORDER BY RAND() LIMIT 4";
if($query_run=mysql_query($query))
{
    $i=4;
    $rows=mysql_fetch_array($query_run);
    while($rows && $i<4)
    {
        echo $rows['banner_no'];
        echo $rows['banner_name'];
        echo "<a href=\"".$rows['Banner_website_url']. "\">";
        echo "<img src=\"".$rows['banner_image_url']."\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">";
        echo"</a>";
        $i=$i-1;
    }
} else {
    echo'<font color="red"> Query does not run. </font>';
}
?>

It is displaying the same single output 4 times. But It has to display the four different output. So, Please tell me where is the bug … And how am i suppose to display four different random output.

Any help will be appreciated
Thanks in advance

Answer 1

Your first Query is fine, but the while is wrong:

Just look at what you did here:

$rows=mysql_fetch_array($query_run);
while($rows)
{
    echo $rows['banner_no'];
    echo $rows['banner_name'];
    echo "<a href=\"".$rows['Banner_website_url']. "\">";
    echo "<img src=\"".$rows['banner_image_url']."\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">";
    echo"</a>";
}

this will end in an “infinite Loop” cause $rows will always be set.
What you need is:

while($rows=mysql_fetch_array($query_run))

this will cause myslq_fetch_array to return a new line everytime the while condition is checked. And if all 4 rows are returned, $rows will be false and the loop is stoped.

And to be complete:
In your second Example you are exactly iterating 4 times over the SAME row, you just fetched one time by calling myslq_fetch_array.

A possible solution to that will be to fetch the row again INSIDE the while-loop:

$i=4;
while ($i>0){
    $rows = mysql_fetch_array(...);
    $i--;
}

However you should prefer the first solution, because then you dont need to take care that the result count matches your iterator variable.

sidenode: Call it $row without the ‘s’, because you always just getting ONE row back.