[Resolved] listing tables in a db

Deany

Any help would be appreciated,

I'm making a script that will generate a new table based on the the content of a field. e.g.

fish_table1
size URL
big | very_big_fish
little | very_little_fish
small | very_small_fish

For each URL I need the script to generate a table in the db
(using this to generate dynamic URLS, but also need space to slap in some data for any URLS which need creating).

So far I've managed to create a loop to create the tables based on the content of ONE field in ONE database. So from the above example I can manage to create another 3 tables called, very_big_fish, very_little_fish, very_small_fish.

Is it possible to create another loop that will ensure that all my original fish_tables are all included (I may have fish_table1, fish_table2, fish_table3 etc).

How to echo a list of tables in a db please (so can convert to a $ and include this in the script) - cheers ! and thanks to anyone in advance.

mourisj

Check for the mysql_list_tables and the mysql_list_fields functions in your PHP manual.

JJ Mouris

mourisj

Are you sure about your database design?

This sounds quite weird to me. I am always very suspicious when someone tries to auto-generate tables based on other table-content or user input!

This is a very reliable way to mess up all your DB design, your scripts and to possibly lock up your server in something you will never ever will get out of it again!

JJ Mouris

Deany

Thanking you, yes the manual is a great thing isn't it. I just needed pointing in the right direction.

And for anyone else, who's interested in echoing out the names of the tables in their database - here's some code to play with:

<?php
$result = mysql_list_tables($dbname);

if (!$result) {
   echo "Could not list the tables\n";
   echo 'MySQL Error: ' . mysql_error();
   exit;
}

while ($row = mysql_fetch_row($result)) {
   echo "Table: $row[0]<br>";
}

mysql_free_result($result);
?>

Not that I'd advise letting everyone know the exact structure of your database. Topic sorted 😃

Deany

Just read your new post above re auto-generation.

Yes, it does sound a bit of a nightmare. It's just a script I'll be running to populate an exact db structure over a number of subdomains (same service / system, different place name).

I did think about the possibility of the script finding the new tables and trying to create even more tables based on those tables and (well you get the idea), this shouldn't happen because on creation the new tables will be blank and won't contain any of the urls.

In future it might be better for me to use mysql dumps, but right now I'm in development and I might change my mind about which urls I want (the url is just the folder name on my own site).

Just playing - and learning - thanks for your help.

Deany