Table of Contents for

MySQL in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition

This function returns an array containing a row of data from an SQL query results set. Data is also stored in an associative array containing the field names as the keys for the values. Field names are derived from either column names or aliases. To choose whether only an array or only an associative array is returned, or both are returned, you may give one of the following as a second argument to the function, respectively: MYSQL_NUM, MYSQL_ASSOC, or MYSQL_BOTH. This function is typically used with a loop statement to work through a results set containing multiple rows of data. When there are no more rows to return, it returns false, which typically triggers the end of the loop. Here is an example:

...
$sql_stmnt = "SELECT wrid, clientid, description
              FROM workreq";
$results = mysql_query($sql_stmnt);
while($row = mysql_fetch_array($results)) {
  print "WR-" . $row[0] . ", Client-" .
         $row['clientid'] . " " . $row['description'] . "\n";
}
...

Notice that both methods of extracting data from the row fetched are used here: the work request number is retrieved using a standard array data retrieval method (i.e., placing the index number of the array element in square brackets); and the other pieces of data are retrieved using the associative array method (i.e., placing the field name and the key name in brackets).