PHP DATABASE Open a Connection to the MySQL Server

Before we can access data in a database, we must open a connection to the MySQL server. In PHP, this is done with the mysqli_connect() function.

Syntax
mysqli_connect(host,username,password,dbname);

Parameter host username password dbname

Description Optional. Either a host name or an IP address Optional. The MySQL user name Optional. The password to log in with Optional. The default database to be used when performing queries

Note: There are more available parameters, but the ones listed above are the most important. In the following example we store the connection in a variable ($con) for later use in the script:

<?php // Create connection $con=mysqli_connect("example.com","peter","abc123","my_db"); // Check connection if (mysqli_connect_errno($con)) { echo "Failed to connect to MySQL: " . mysqli_connect_error(); } ?>

Close a Connection
The connection will be closed automatically when the script ends. To close the connection before, use the mysqli_close() function:

<?php $con=mysqli_connect("example.com","peter","abc123","my_db"); // Check connection if (mysqli_connect_errno($con)) { echo "Failed to connect to MySQL: " . mysqli_connect_error(); } mysqli_close($con); ?>

Create a Database
The CREATE DATABASE statement is used to create a database table in MySQL. We must add the CREATE DATABASE statement to the mysqli_query() function to execute the command. The following example creates a database named "my_db":

<?php $con=mysqli_connect("example.com","peter","abc123"); // Check connection if (mysqli_connect_errno()) { echo "Failed to connect to MySQL: " . mysqli_connect_error(); } // Create database $sql="CREATE DATABASE my_db"; if (mysqli_query($con,$sql)) { echo "Database my_db created successfully"; } else { echo "Error creating database: " . mysqli_error($con); } ?>

Create a Table
The CREATE TABLE statement is used to create a table in MySQL. We must add the CREATE TABLE statement to the mysqli_query() function to execute the command. The following example creates a table named "Persons", with three columns: "FirstName", "LastName" and "Age":

<?php $con=mysqli_connect("example.com","peter","abc123","my_db"); // Check connection if (mysqli_connect_errno()) { echo "Failed to connect to MySQL: " . mysqli_connect_error(); } // Create table $sql="CREATE TABLE Persons(FirstName CHAR(30),LastName CHAR(30),Age INT)"; // Execute query if (mysqli_query($con,$sql)) { echo "Table persons created successfully"; } else { echo "Error creating table: " . mysqli_error($con); } ?>
Note: When you create a field of type CHAR, you must specify the maximum length of the field, e.g. CHAR(50).

Primary Keys and Auto Increment Fields

Each table in a database should have a primary key field. A primary key is used to uniquely identify the rows in a table. Each primary key value must be unique within the table. Furthermore, the primary key field cannot be null because the database engine requires a value to locate the record. The following example sets the PID field as the primary key field. The primary key field is often an ID number, and is often used with the AUTO_INCREMENT setting. AUTO_INCREMENT automatically increases the value of the field by 1 each time a new record is added. To ensure that the primary key field cannot be null, we must add the NOT NULL setting to the field:

$sql = "CREATE TABLE Persons ( PID INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT, PRIMARY KEY(PID), FirstName CHAR(15), LastName CHAR(15), Age INT )";

Insert Data Into a Database Table

The INSERT INTO statement is used to add new records to a database table.

Syntax
It is possible to write the INSERT INTO statement in two forms. The first form doesn't specify the column names where the data will be inserted, only their values:

INSERT INTO table_name VALUES (value1, value2, value3,...)

The second form specifies both the column names and the values to be inserted:

INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2, column3,...) VALUES (value1, value2, value3,...)
To learn more about SQL, please visit our SQL tutorial. To get PHP to execute the statements above we must use the mysqli_query() function. This function is used to send a query or command to a MySQL connection.

Example
In the previous chapter we created a table named "Persons", with three columns; "FirstName", "LastName" and "Age". We will use the same table in this example. The following example adds two new records to the "Persons" table:

<?php $con=mysqli_connect("example.com","peter","abc123","my_db"); // Check connection if (mysqli_connect_errno()) { echo "Failed to connect to MySQL: " . mysqli_connect_error(); } mysqli_query($con,"INSERT INTO Persons (FirstName, LastName, Age) VALUES ('Peter', 'Griffin',35)"); mysqli_query($con,"INSERT INTO Persons (FirstName, LastName, Age) VALUES ('Glenn', 'Quagmire',33)"); mysqli_close($con); ?>

Insert Data From a Form Into a Database

Now we will create an HTML form that can be used to add new records to the "Persons" table. Here is the HTML form:

<html> <body> <form action="insert.php" method="post"> Firstname: <input type="text" name="firstname"> Lastname: <input type="text" name="lastname"> Age: <input type="text" name="age"> <input type="submit"> </form> </body> </html>
When a user clicks the submit button in the HTML form, in the example above, the form data is sent to "insert.php". The "insert.php" file connects to a database, and retrieves the values from the form with the PHP $_POST variables. Then, the mysqli_query() function executes the INSERT INTO statement, and a new record will be added to the "Persons" table. Here is the "insert.php" page:

<?php $con=mysqli_connect("example.com","peter","abc123","my_db"); // Check connection if (mysqli_connect_errno()) { echo "Failed to connect to MySQL: " . mysqli_connect_error(); } $sql="INSERT INTO Persons (FirstName, LastName, Age) VALUES ('$_POST[firstname]','$_POST[lastname]','$_POST[age]')"; if (!mysqli_query($con,$sql)) { die('Error: ' . mysqli_error($con)); } echo "1 record added"; mysqli_close($con); ?>

Select Data From a Database Table

The SELECT statement is used to select data from a database.

Syntax
SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name
To learn more about SQL, please visit our SQL tutorial. To get PHP to execute the statement above we must use the mysqli_query() function. This function is used to send a query or command to a MySQL connection.

Example
The following example selects all the data stored in the "Persons" table (The * character selects all the data in the table):

<?php $con=mysqli_connect("example.com","peter","abc123","my_db"); // Check connection if (mysqli_connect_errno()) { echo "Failed to connect to MySQL: " . mysqli_connect_error(); } $result = mysqli_query($con,"SELECT * FROM Persons"); while($row = mysqli_fetch_array($result)) { echo $row['FirstName'] . " " . $row['LastName']; echo "<br>"; } mysqli_close($con); ?>
The example above stores the data returned by the mysqli_query() function in the $result variable. Next, we use the mysqli_fetch_array() function to return the first row from the recordset as an array. Each call to mysqli_fetch_array() returns the next row in the recordset. The while loop loops through all the records in the recordset. To print the value of each row, we use the PHP $row variable ($row['FirstName'] and $row['LastName']). The output of the code above will be:

Peter Griffin Glenn Quagmire

Display the Result in an HTML Table

The following example selects the same data as the example above, but will display the data in an HTML table:

<?php $con=mysqli_connect("example.com","peter","abc123","my_db"); // Check connection if (mysqli_connect_errno()) { echo "Failed to connect to MySQL: " . mysqli_connect_error(); } $result = mysqli_query($con,"SELECT * FROM Persons"); echo "<table border='1'> <tr> <th>Firstname</th> <th>Lastname</th> </tr>"; while($row = mysqli_fetch_array($result)) { echo "<tr>"; echo "<td>" . $row['FirstName'] . "</td>"; echo "<td>" . $row['LastName'] . "</td>"; echo "</tr>"; } echo "</table>"; mysqli_close($con); ?>
The output of the code above will be: Firstname Lastname Glenn Peter Quagmire Griffin

The WHERE clause

The WHERE clause is used to extract only those records that fulfill a specified criterion.

Syntax
SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name WHERE column_name operator value
To learn more about SQL, please visit our SQL tutorial. To get PHP to execute the statement above we must use the mysqli_query() function. This function is used to send a query or command to a MySQL connection.

Example
The following example selects all rows from the "Persons" table where "FirstName='Peter'":

<?php $con=mysqli_connect("example.com","peter","abc123","my_db"); // Check connection if (mysqli_connect_errno()) { echo "Failed to connect to MySQL: " . mysqli_connect_error(); } $result = mysqli_query($con,"SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE FirstName='Peter'"); while($row = mysqli_fetch_array($result)) { echo $row['FirstName'] . " " . $row['LastName']; echo "<br>"; } ?>
The output of the code above will be:

Peter Griffin

The ORDER BY Keyword

The ORDER BY keyword is used to sort the data in a recordset. The ORDER BY keyword sort the records in ascending order by default. If you want to sort the records in a descending order, you can use the DESC keyword.

Syntax
SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name ORDER BY column_name(s) ASC|DESC

Example
The following example selects all the data stored in the "Persons" table, and sorts the result by the "Age" column:

<?php $con=mysqli_connect("example.com","peter","abc123","my_db"); // Check connection if (mysqli_connect_errno()) { echo "Failed to connect to MySQL: " . mysqli_connect_error(); } $result = mysqli_query($con,"SELECT * FROM Persons ORDER BY age"); while($row = mysqli_fetch_array($result)) { echo $row['FirstName']; echo " " . $row['LastName']; echo " " . $row['Age']; echo "<br>"; } mysqli_close($con); ?>
The output of the code above will be:

Glenn Quagmire 33 Peter Griffin 35

Order by Two Columns

It is also possible to order by more than one column. When ordering by more than one column, the second column is only used if the values in the first column are equal:

SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name ORDER BY column1, column2

Update Data In a Database

The UPDATE statement is used to update existing records in a table.

Syntax
UPDATE table_name SET column1=value, column2=value2,... WHERE some_column=some_value

Note: Notice the WHERE clause in the UPDATE syntax. The WHERE clause specifies which record or records that should be updated. If you omit the WHERE clause, all records will be updated! To get PHP to execute the statement above we must use the mysqli_query() function. This function is used to send a query or command to a MySQL connection.

Example :Earlier in the tutorial we created a table named "Persons". Here is how it
looks: FirstName Peter Glenn LastName Griffin Quagmire Age 35 33

The following example updates some data in the "Persons" table:

<?php $con=mysqli_connect("example.com","peter","abc123","my_db"); // Check connection if (mysqli_connect_errno()) { echo "Failed to connect to MySQL: " . mysqli_connect_error(); } mysqli_query($con,"UPDATE Persons SET Age=36 WHERE FirstName='Peter' AND LastName='Griffin'"); mysqli_close($con); ?>
After the update, the "Persons" table will look like this: FirstName Peter Glenn LastName Griffin Quagmire Age 36 33

Delete Data In a Database

The DELETE FROM statement is used to delete records from a database table.

Syntax
DELETE FROM table_name WHERE some_column = some_value
Note: Notice the WHERE clause in the DELETE syntax. The WHERE clause specifies which record or records that should be deleted. If you omit the WHERE clause, all records will be deleted! To learn more about SQL, please visit our SQL tutorial. To get PHP to execute the statement above we must use the mysqli_query() function. This function is used to send a query or command to a MySQL connection.

Example
Look at the following "Persons" table: FirstName Peter LastName Griffin Age 35

Glenn

Quagmire

33

The following example deletes all the records in the "Persons" table where LastName='Griffin':

<?php $con=mysqli_connect("example.com","peter","abc123","my_db"); // Check connection if (mysqli_connect_errno()) { echo "Failed to connect to MySQL: " . mysqli_connect_error(); } mysqli_query($con,"DELETE FROM Persons WHERE LastName='Griffin'"); mysqli_close($con); ?>
After the deletion, the table will look like this: FirstName Glenn LastName Quagmire Age 33

Create an ODBC Connection

With an ODBC connection, you can connect to any database, on any computer in your network, as long as an ODBC connection is available. Here is how to create an ODBC connection to a MS Access Database: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Open the Administrative Tools icon in your Control Panel. Double-click on the Data Sources (ODBC) icon inside. Choose the System DSN tab. Click on Add in the System DSN tab. Select the Microsoft Access Driver. Click Finish. In the next screen, click Select to locate the database. Give the database a Data Source Name (DSN). Click OK.

Note that this configuration has to be done on the computer where your web site is located. If you are running Internet Information Server (IIS) on your own computer, the instructions above will work, but if your web site is located on a remote server, you have to have physical access to that server, or ask your web host to to set up a DSN for you to use.

Connecting to an ODBC
The odbc_connect() function is used to connect to an ODBC data source. The function takes four parameters: the data source name, username, password, and an optional cursor type. The odbc_exec() function is used to execute an SQL statement.

Example
The following example creates a connection to a DSN called northwind, with no username and no password. It then creates an SQL and executes it:

$conn=odbc_connect('northwind','',''); $sql="SELECT * FROM customers"; $rs=odbc_exec($conn,$sql);

Retrieving Records
The odbc_fetch_row() function is used to return records from the result-set. This function returns true if it is able to return rows, otherwise false. The function takes two parameters: the ODBC result identifier and an optional row number:

odbc_fetch_row($rs)

Retrieving Fields from a Record

The odbc_result() function is used to read fields from a record. This function takes two parameters: the ODBC result identifier and a field number or name. The code line below returns the value of the first field from the record:

$compname=odbc_result($rs,1);
The code line below returns the value of a field called "CompanyName":

$compname=odbc_result($rs,"CompanyName");

Closing an ODBC Connection

The odbc_close() function is used to close an ODBC connection.

odbc_close($conn);

An ODBC Example
The following example shows how to first create a database connection, then a result-set, and then display the data in an HTML table.

<html> <body> <?php $conn=odbc_connect('northwind','',''); if (!$conn) {exit("Connection Failed: " . $conn);} $sql="SELECT * FROM customers"; $rs=odbc_exec($conn,$sql); if (!$rs) {exit("Error in SQL");} echo "<table><tr>"; echo "<th>Companyname</th>"; echo "<th>Contactname</th></tr>"; while (odbc_fetch_row($rs)) { $compname=odbc_result($rs,"CompanyName"); $conname=odbc_result($rs,"ContactName"); echo "<tr><td>$compname</td>"; echo "<td>$conname</td></tr>"; } odbc_close($conn); echo "</table>"; ?> </body> </html>