sleep()

[OwenTheSamoan]

Below is a simplified version of what I am doing. I want to print 5 names from a mysql table, but I want there to be a five second delay between each name as they are printed. Instead of the desired result, the script delays for 20 seconds, then prints all the names at once. Any solutions?

Thanks in advance,
Owen The Samoan

<?php

$result = mysql_query("select username from users limit 0,5") or die (mysql_error());
while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)){
echo $row['username'].'<br>';
sleep(5);
}

?>

[NogDog]

You can try [man]flush/man-ing each output, but more often than not it is still buffered by the web server.

Otherwise you could use JavaScript (possibly using an AJAX solution) to display one item every 5 seconds.

[OwenTheSamoan]

tried using flush(), but it didn't work 🙁

[Weedpacket]

Another delay could be the browser deciding when it should render what it has already received; it may wait until it has a better idea of what comes next.

Then there are all the other buffers that might exist between the server and the client.

So really, this is client-side behaviour that's best handled at the client end; then you only have to worry about whether or not JavaScript is running.