[RESOLVED] newbie and counting rows

[auddog]

I have a question about counting rows, mostly just where to place the code. Here is what I currently have for code:

<?php

$criteria1 = "$_POST[criteria1]";
$criteria2 = "$_POST[criteria2]";

include 'config.php';


/*** create a new mysqli object with default database***/
$connection = mysqli_connect($hostname, $username, $password, $dbname) or die ("Unable to connect");

//create query
$query = "SELECT id, serial_no, order_no, board_no FROM production where $criteria2 like '$criteria1' ORDER by id DESC";

//excute query
$result = mysqli_query($connection, $query) or die ("Error in query: $query. ".mysqli_error());

// see if any rows were returned
if (mysqli_num_rows($result) > 0) {
    // yes
    // print them one after another
        while (list($id, $serial_no, $order_no, $board_no) = mysqli_fetch_row($result))
            {
            echo "    <tr>
      <td><div align=center><a href=order_info.php?id=$id>$serial_no</div></td>
      <td><div align=center>$order_no</div></td>
      <td><div align=center>$board_no</div></td>
    </tr>";
            }
    echo "</table>";
}
else {
    // no
    // print status message
    echo "<tr><td colspan=3><div align=center>No rows found!</div></td></tr>";
    echo "</table>";
}

// free result set memory
mysqli_free_result($result);

// close connection
mysqli_close($connection);

?>

I know this is not to complicated, but I just don't get it. Thanks in advance for any help.

A

[rincewind456]

Well it obviously has to go after the query has been run or there will be no rows to count. 😃

But seriously where do you want it to go and what for.

The syntax is

$row_cnt = $result->num_rows;

and you can the use $row_cnt wherever you want.

[bradgrafelman]

Just a couple of things to help you improve your coding style concerning this code snippet:

$criteria1 = "$_POST[criteria1]"; 
$criteria2 = "$_POST[criteria2]";

1. Array indeces in your case should be strings. $row[name] does not have a string as an index, but a constant. PHP will detect this (assuming there actually isn't a constant named 'name') and throw an E_WARNING and then assume it is a string. So, use quotes: $row['name'].

2. The quotes around the $_POST variables are unnecessary (in fact, they bring up an entirely different issue).

[auddog]

Thanks for your help. Still learning some of the smaller things about PHP.

A