Stop the loop! Ah! (a real brainteaser)

Anon

In this code, if there are no "Protocols", it still prints out "Protocols:". How do I get it to print out "Protocols:" once and only once so that it looks like

Protocols:
First Protocol
Second Protocol
Third Protocol

Here is the code:
/ show Protocols first /
$Document_query = "select from tbDocument where fkSubSxn='11'";
$Document_result = mysql_query($Document_query, $mysql_link);
$tbDocument = mysql_fetch_object($Document_result);
$pkDocument = $tbDocument->pkDocument;
if($tbDocument){
print "<tr>\n";
print "<td bgcolor=\"#c0c0c0\" valign=\"top\">\n";
print "Protocols: \n";
while($tbDocument = mysql_fetch_object($Document_result)){
$pkDocument = $tbDocument->pkDocument;
/ find related documents /
$DocumentLProdGrp_query = "select from tbDocumentLProdGrp where fkDocument='$pkDocument' && fkProdGrp='$pkProdGrp'";
$DocumentLProdGrp_result = mysql_query($DocumentLProdGrp_query, $mysql_link);
while($tbDocumentLProdGrp = mysql_fetch_object($DocumentLProdGrp_result)){
/ list the document /
$Title = stripslashes($tbDocument->Title);
$fkSubSxn = $tbDocument->fkSubSxn;
$fkTNVolume = $tbDocument->fkTNVolume;
$FileName = stripslashes($tbDocument->FileName);
/ fetch the subdirectory name /
$SubSxn_query = "select * from tbSubSxn where pkSubSxn = '$fkSubSxn'";
$SubSxn_result = mysql_query($SubSxn_query, $mysql_link);
$tbSubSxn = mysql_fetch_object($SubSxn_result);
$SubDir = $tbSubSxn->SubDir;
print "<a href=\"../$SubDir/$FileName\">$Title</a>\n";
print "\n";
}
}
print "</td>\n";
print "</tr>\n";
}

Anon

maybe you could try a different initial conditional. e.g., did you try starting with this?

select count()
from tbDocument
where fkSubSxn='11'
...
if (0 < $counter1) {/ proceed */}

Anon

Perhaps you can use mysql_num_rows() to find out how
many result rows there are before you print anything, but I'm
a bit unsure because I find the structure here confusing.

You say:

$Document_query =
    "select * from tbDocument where fkSubSxn='11'";
  $Document_result = mysql_query($Document_query, $mysql_link);
  $tbDocument = mysql_fetch_object($Document_result);
  $pkDocument = $tbDocument->pkDocument;
Note you test the value of $tbdocument but don't display
anything from it.
  if($tbDocument)
    {
    ...
    print "Protocols: \n";
    while($tbDocument =       mysql_fetch_object($Document_result))

And now here you're you're reading more results from the same query,
so it makes me worry that (1) your tables aren't really normalized, as
the first result appears to be logically some kind of parent record and
the second and subsequent ones list protocols that belong to the
first one, and (2) you don't do anything to ORDER the results so
how can you know you'll get the one you want first?

Anon

Note you test the value of $tbdocument but don't display
anything from it.

That's exactly right! What is happening here is three things. First, I look for all of the articles in the database that are Protocols (indicated by the fkSubSxn='11'). If any exist, then I print "Protocols:".

/ show Protocols first /
$Document_query = "select * from tbDocument where fkSubSxn='11'";
$Document_result = mysql_query($Document_query, $mysql_link);
$tbDocument = mysql_fetch_object($Document_result);
$pkDocument = $tbDocument->pkDocument;
if($tbDocument){
print "<tr>\n";
print "<td bgcolor=\"#c0c0c0\" valign=\"top\">\n";
print "Protocols: \n";

Then, for each document that has fxSubSxn equal to 11, I check to make sure that it is also related to the specific Product Group that I am displaying. For each document that is related to this product group, I print the title of the Document as a hyperlink to its proper location.

while($tbDocument = mysql_fetch_object($Document_result)){
$pkDocument = $tbDocument->pkDocument;
/ find related documents /
$DocumentLProdGrp_query = "select from tbDocumentLProdGrp where fkDocument='$pkDocument' && fkProdGrp='$pkProdGrp'";
$DocumentLProdGrp_result = mysql_query($DocumentLProdGrp_query, $mysql_link);
while($tbDocumentLProdGrp = mysql_fetch_object($DocumentLProdGrp_result)){
/ list the document /
$Title = stripslashes($tbDocument->Title);
$fkSubSxn = $tbDocument->fkSubSxn;
$fkTNVolume = $tbDocument->fkTNVolume;
$FileName = stripslashes($tbDocument->FileName);
/ fetch the subdirectory name /
$SubSxn_query = "select from tbSubSxn where pkSubSxn = '$fkSubSxn'";
$SubSxn_result = mysql_query($SubSxn_query, $mysql_link);
$tbSubSxn = mysql_fetch_object($SubSxn_result);
$SubDir = $tbSubSxn->SubDir;
print "<a href=\"../$SubDir/$FileName\">$Title</a>\n";
print "\n";
}
}

However, this means that, even if there are no products where fkSubSxn=11 AND that are also related to this specific Product Group (fkProdGrp='pkProdGrp'), as long as there are some documents where fkSubSxn=11, it will print "Protocols:" even though there will be no listed Protocol documents. If I put the if statement INSIDE the loop that calls for related Product Groups, then it prints "Protocols:" for each document. I want it to print "Protocols:" only once and then list all related documents. Does that make more sense?

Thanks for your help!
Christiane

Anon

You're missing my point--it appears you are fetching two rows
from your original query, and doing nothing at all with the first
one.