problem with while loop

sgibbs

Hi there,

Why is it that when I try fetching an array from the same db query result through two different while loops on one page it doesn't work.

Here's an example of what I'm trying to do:

$result = mysql_db_query($db, "SELECT country FROM registration where approved='y' group by country order by country asc");

<?
while($form_array=mysql_fetch_array($result)){

print "<option value=\"#$form_array[country]\">$form_array[country]";
};
?>

</form>

<br />

<?
while($rst_array=mysql_fetch_array($result)){

print "<tr><td valign=\"top\"><font face=\"verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif\" size=\"2\"><b><a name=\"$rst_array[country]\">$rst_array[country]</a></b>";
};
?>

</body>
</html>

For some reason, when I try fetching an array from the same variable $result, the second while statement doesn't run - even though the variables with the array results are different names: $form_array and $rst_array.

I did fix this problem by simply duplicating $result and naming it $form_result and then using $form_result in the first while statement and $result in the second.

So my question is, am I missing something? Does anyone know why this is happening and is there a better solution out there?

Thank you, Shawna

tomhath

when I try fetching an array from the same variable $result

That's the answer to your question. You already fetched all the rows from the result set in the first 'while' loop.

You can reset the $result variable back to the beginning of the result set with the mysql_data_seek function:

http://www.phpbuilder.com/manual/function.mysql-data-seek.php

sgibbs

I didn't know that arrays 'emptied' or stopped at the end in a while loop.

Thank you so much! Now I'm not running the same query twice - the mysql_data_seek works perfectly and I think it results in better coding too!

Shawna