Basics: Output Simple Array

[Germaris]

Hi there!

I wish to output an array.

In my PHP Script, I wrote this:

function synchrouser($user,$pass)
{        $user = trim($user);
         $pass = md5(trim($pass));
         $table = '_a_users';
         $query ="SELECT * FROM $table WHERE userName='$user' AND userPassword='$pass'";
         $myresult =mysql_query($query);
         $mydata = "";
         while ($row =mysql_fetch_array($myresult)) {
              $lastName = $row["lastName"];
              $firstName = $row["firstName"];
              $school = $row["school"];
              $promoYear = $row["promo"];
              $exitYear = $row["promoOut"];
              $promoNumber = $row["promoNum"];
              $email = $row["email"];
                 //insertion of a "|" delimiter
              $mydata .= "|".$lastName."|".$firstName."|".$school."|".$promoYear."|".$exitYear."|".$promoNumber."|".$email;
              print "&mydata=".$mydata;
          }
}

What's wrong in this coding?

Many thanks in advance for your help!

[Ashley_Sheridan]

What is currently happening now? Are you getting an error, or is something not working as intended? Have you tried anything yet to debug?

[Germaris]

Thank you very much, Ashley, for replying.

I thought I was clear enough with the simple title I've chosen...
My problem is : "From this sql query, how can I output an array containing all the results of the query in the order I enumerated them and separated with the specified delimiter?"

I don't have error messages.
I simply don't get the array I expected.

For example, this is a function which works nice and output an array of all the rows of a table column:

function reminders($unlocking)
{
		GLOBAL $db;
		$table = "_reminders";
		$query ="SELECT text FROM $table";
		$myresult =mysql_query($query);
		$myData = "";
		$counter = 0;
		while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($myresult)) {
			$text = $row["text"];
			if ($counter == 0) {
				$myData .= $text;
			} else {
				// Use a item delimiter "|" to separate the records
				$myData .= "|".$text;
			}
			$counter++;
		}
		print "&myData=".$myData;
}

Best regards,

Gerard

[traq]

First off, "output" implies you want to print something to the browser. You can't print an array - it's a data structure. You have to convert it to a string first. If you try to print it directly, PHP will convert it for you, and you'll simply have the word "Array".

Secondly, you're not creating any arrays in the code you posted. (You're using one, the $row from your mysql query [BTW - STOP USING THE MySQL EXTENSION], but you're using it to create a string [$myData], and that's what you're trying to print later on.)

Perhaps you can explain more about what you want to accomplish?

[Ashley_Sheridan]

OK, from your second post I gather you're not trying to output an array but a string that you build up within the while loop. You didn't really answer my other question though, "Have you tried anything yet to debug?"

First, use var_dump() to output $mydata. That will show you if the script is reaching that point and what the variable contains, as well as its type and length.

Then, if that is showing either an empty string of zero length, try outputting the query. Maybe it's not the query you think it's running.

If you truly do get a blank page with no output then it sounds like a bigger problem. Make sure that errors are set to display. Failing that, you need to check your error logs.

[traq]

function reminders($unlocking){
                # you import this from the global scope, but never do anything with it ...?
		GLOBAL $db;
		$table = "_reminders";
		$query ="SELECT text FROM $table";
		$myresult =mysql_query($query);
                # as I said earlier, you should not be using the severely outdated mysql_*() functions.
                # but regardless, you need to check if the query was successful or not -
                # as Ashley said, maybe there's an error here.
		$myData = "";
		$counter = 0;
		while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($myresult)) {
			$text = $row["text"];
			if ($counter == 0) {
				$myData .= $text;
			} else {
				$myData .= "|".$text;
			}
			$counter++;
		}
                # there's an easier way to build that string.  just a moment.

            # are you trying to write a fragment for a query string?
            # if so, you need to urlencode() it also.
	print "&myData=".$myData;

/** another approach to building this string:

# retrieve text from all rows and place in an array
while( $row = mysql_fetch_array( $result ) ){ $text[] = $row['text']; }
# implode array into a string, delimited by a pipe ( | )
$myData = '&myData='.implode( '|',$text );

*/
}