[RESOLVED] "Getting from db" problem

[foid025]

hey all,

I've got a code in which one cell in each row in a mySQL table consists of file id's separatated by a semicolon (ex: 56;91;24;663). I am working on a function to delete a specific file, and part of that involves taking that file's id out of the cell.

Here is the code right now... I think it is very innefficient and perhaps even has a bug or two. Critique please?

Btw, $contentsFiles refers to the contents of that cell I'm talking about in the db.

if($contentsFiles != "")	//if the folder is not currently empty
					{
						$filesArray = explode(";", $contentsFiles);
						$length = count($filesArray);
						$found = false;
						$i=0;
						while($found == false && $i < $length)
						{
							if($filesArray[$i] == $fid)
							{
								unset($filesArray[$i]);
								$found = true;
							}
							$i++;
						}

					if($found == false)
						echo "<META HTTP-EQUIV=Refresh CONTENT=0; URL=members.php>";

					//rebuild the string
					$newFiles = "";
					for($j=0; $j<count($filesArray)+1; $j++)
					{
					  	if($filesArray[$j]!= "")
							$newFiles .= $filesArray[$j] . ";";
					}
					$newFiles = substr($newFiles, 0, (strlen($newFiles)-1));

					//save the new file
					$query2 = "UPDATE accounts SET contentsFiles = '$newFiles' WHERE uid='$uid'";
					$result = mysql_query($query2, $link) or die('Query failed: ' . mysql_error());
					mysql_close($link);		//close db
					return;
				}
			}

[bradgrafelman]

foid025 wrote:

Critique please?

Funny you used that word... was just going to mention that this thread has been moved to the Code Critique forum.

[bike5]

I didn't really review the code much but to remove a file from that string you could do a simple

$contentsFiles = str_replace(array('53;','184;'), '', $contentsFiles);

that sort of thing. Not sure if thats too simplified if you need the exploded array for anything

[mjax]

Normally, you would model this kind of data using a linked table, in which each file has it's own record linked to accounts table.

But if you have to go this way, you could try this:

// fetch current file ID's into array
$file_ids = explode(';', mysql_result(mysql_query("SELECT contentsFiles FROM accounts WHERE uid='$uid'"), $link));
// remove element from array that needs to be deleted
unset($file_ids[array_search($fid, $file_ids)]);
// update record with modified array
mysql_query("UPDATE accounts SET contentFiles='".implode(',', $file_ids)."' WHERE uid='$uid'", $link);

[foid025]

wonderful... great. thanks