Question

When I’m selecting from multiple tables that share column names is there a way I can return both, but define which one I want to select the data from?

For instance:
Both tables contain “date” columns, and I want to use both, but I would like to avoid having to rename each column that has duplicate names.

 $query = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM posts, comments"); //(SELECT * is just for example)
 while($row=mysql_fetch_array($query))
 {
     $postDate = $row['date'];  //I would like to be able to do something like:
                                //$postDate = $row['posts']['date']; OR $row['posts.date'];
                                //of course it's all in an array now, jumbled up.
     $commentDate = $row['date']; 
 }

Answer 1

You need to alias the duplicate column names in your query if you want both, eg

SELECT p.date AS postDate, c.date AS commentDate
FROM posts p, comments c

Then use the aliases to retrieve the values

$postDate = $row['postDate'];
$commentDate = $row['commentDate'];

FYI, it’s almost never a good idea to SELECT *, especially when multiple tables are involved. You should always try to be specific about the columns added to your SELECT clause