Looping query results in fwrite()

Anon

First I want to say thanks to everyone who helped me figure out how to update my links list with crontab!

Now... I can get my query to work, I have crontab set and working with a simple fwrite() script, BUT when I want to loop my query results within the fwrite() function I get:

while ( = mysql_fetch_array(Resource id #2)) {

} SITE TITLE IN

All I want to do is grab the 10 top rated sites from a mySQL database and write the results to a file called topten.php. Everything worked great until I added the while loop. Here is the code I used:

<?php
// database connection and SQL query go here

// need help with this part...

$topten = fopen("/pathtofile/topten.php", "w");
fwrite($topten, "<TABLE BORDER=1>
<TR><TH>SITE TITLE</TH><TH>IN</TH></TR>
while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($sql_result)) {
<TR><TD><A HREF=\"$row[SITE_URL]\">$row[SITE_TITLE]</A></TD><TD>$row[SITE_IN]</TD></TR>
}
</TABLE>
");
fclose($topten);

// end of part I need help with

// free resources etc.
?>

I want to set this to run every hour using crontab. Anyone know what I'm doing wrong in the code above?

Many thanks!!!
Rich S.

Anon

Rich, you probably have found this by now but your first fwrite() is not closed off.

fwrite($topten, "<TABLE BORDER=1>
<TR><TH>SITE TITLE</TH><TH>IN</TH></TR>

Naturally any code that follows is going to be dumped into your open file, until PHP finds a " and a ) and a ;

Anon

Actually, I would like the entire table (query results included) dumped into the open file.

Basically, I want the table with the results of the while loop to write to "topten.php" from where I can grab it using require("topten.php") in the main page. I only separated the files so the query won't run every time the main page is hit, but only on the interval I specify using crontab.

I already have crontab working, I just need to get the results of the while loop to write to topten.php =)

Where do I need to close the fwrite loop to make this work?

Thanks for the quick reply!
Rich S

Anon

Here is the code you posted:

fwrite($topten, "<TABLE BORDER=1>
<TR><TH>SITE TITLE</TH><TH>IN</TH></TR>

// Where does this function call end?
// Answer: It doesn't.... from the point
// of view of PHP, the output string continues
// reading like so...

while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($sql_result)) {

// naturally it writes out your PHP code
// rather than executing it!
// and there is no while() loop at all

<TR><TD><A
HREF=\"$row[SITE_URL]\">$row[SITE_TITLE]</A></TD><TD>$row[SITE_IN]</TD></TR>
}
</TABLE>
"); // AH! Now the first fwrite() is closed.

See the problem?

You need "); after your table labels are output.

Anon

Oohh... so I close the fwrite after the first table tags, then run the while loop and continue with a second fwrite function. Like this?

fwrite($topten, "<TABLE BORDER=1>
<TR><TH>SITE TITLE</TH><TH>IN</TH></TR>");

while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($sql_result)) {

fwrite($topten, "<TR><TD><A
HREF=\"$row[SITE_URL]\">$row[SITE_TITLE]</A></TD><TD>$row[SITE_IN]</TD></TR>");

}

fwrite($topten, "</TABLE>");

Will that do it, or will the following fwrite functions write over the preceding fwrite functions? I'm guessing I need to tell the pointer where to start in the second and tird fwrite functions??

Thanks for clearing this up!!!
Rich S

Anon

Your code should work with that change. You don't have to pass an offset to fwrite, since it is working with the same file handle as the previous invocation. If you closed and reopened the file, then you'd have to worry about it.

Anon

Thank you sooo much! That was the final piece to my puzzle... now I just need to plug in the formatting!

Thanks again!
Rich S.