A MySQL Tutorial For Beginners

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PHP / MySQL Tutorial

MySQL Setup Guide
MySQL Admin
MySQL Syntax
MySQL Database
MySQL Connect
MySQL Tables
MySQL Insert
MySQL Query
MySQL Fetch Array
MySQL Select
MySQL Where
MySQL Order By
MySQL Joins
MySQL LEFT JOIN
MySQL Update
MySQL Delete
MySQL Database Backups
MySQL GROUP BY - Aggregate Functions
MySQL Aggregate Functions - COUNT()
MySQL Aggregate Functions - SUM()
MySQL Aggregate Functions - AVG()
MySQL Aggregate Functions - MIN()
MySQL Aggregate Functions - MAX()
MySQL - SQL Injection Prevention
MySQL Date - Formats
MySQL Time - Formats
MySQL Index - Overclock Your Tables
Tizag Webmaster Tutorials - http://www.tizag.com - Unlock Your Potential!
PHP / MySQL Tutorial

MySQL is currently the most popular open source database server in existence. On top of that,it is
very commonly used in conjunction with PHP scripts to create powerful and dynamic server-side
applications.
MySQL has been criticized in the past for not supporting all the features ofother popular and more
expensive DataBase Management Systems. However, MySQL continues to improve with each
release (currently version 5), and it has become widely popular with individuals and businesses of
many different sizes.
What is a Database?
A database is a structure that comes in two flavors: a flat database and a relational database. A
relational database is much more oriented to the human mind and is often preferredover the gabble-degook flat database that are just stored on hard drives like a text file. MySQL is a relational database.
In a relational structured database there are tables that storedata. The columns define which kinds
of information will be stored in the table. An individual column must be created for each type of data
you wish to store (i.e. Age, Weight, Height).
On the other hand, a row contains the actual values for these specified columns. Each row will
have 1 value for each and every column. For example a table with columns (Name, Age, Weight-lbs)
could have a row with the values (Bob, 65, 165). If all this relational database talk is too confusing,
don't despair. We will talk about and show a few examples in the coming lessons.
Why Use a Database?

Databases are most useful when it comes to storing information that fits intological categories. For
example, say that you wanted to store information of allthe employees in a company. With a database
you can group different parts of your business into separate tables to help store your information
logically. Example tables might be: Employees, Supervisors, and Customers. Each table would then
contain columns specific to these three areas. To help store information related to each employee, the
Employees table might have the following columns: Hire, Date, Position, Age, and Salary.
Learn MySQL
Before you begin this tutorial you should have a basic knowledge of the informationcovered in our
PHP and HTML tutorials.
This tutorial focuses heavily on using MySQL in a PHP environment. It is aimedat teaching those
who have web hosts with PHP and MySQL already installed. If you are unsure, please contact your
web host.
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MySQL Setup Guide

The easiest way to experiment with MySQL and PHP is to purchase somespace on a shared web
host.
Although you can set up MySQL manually on your home PC, it can be rather difficult for a
beginner to do, and would require more than a few lessons! If you think you've got what it takes, or
you're just mentally unstable, head on over to MySQL.comfor more information on installing
MySQL yourself.
Setting Up MySQL in CPanel

There are many different types of control panels that your shared hostingprovider may have. This
tutorial assumes that you are using the most popular, CPanel.
First, find the link that allows you to administer MySQL. Within CPanel the icon is labeled
MySQL Databases. Once there, you will need to do the following before you can start using MySQL.
.:. Create a new database
.:. Create a new user with password
.:. Assign the user to the database
If you have problems with thissteps, seek help from your web hosting provider or ask a question in
the Tizag Forums.
Helpful Tool - phpMyAdmin!

Also supplied by most hosting services is phpMyAdmin (you can also install it anywhere you
want, as it's open source and free). This tool will allow you to view all the MySQL database, tables,
and entries, as well as perform SQL queries remotely through a web browser.
Although we will be teaching how to create databases, tables and all other MySQL tasks through
PHP, we encourage you to learn about phpMyAdmin. It's easy-to-use interface will allow you to do
many common MySQL tasks quickly and easily, saving you many beginner headaches and helping
you understand what's going on in a more visual manner.
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MySQL Admin
This lesson covers the different options you have available to you for administering your MySQL
service after it is successfully installed. If you already have that base covered feel freeto skip on to
the next lesson.
MySQL Command Line

If you are an old-school programmer that has no need for a graphical user interface, then you can
simply use any command line interface to execute MySQL queries.
Those of you with MySQL installed on your Microsoft Windowsoperating system can reach the
command line by going to the Start Menu and choosing "Run...". Type thekeyword "cmd" into the
text field and press Enter to launch Window's command line interface.
MySQL GUI
With so many free MySQL administration tools available, many developers favor these free
Graphical User Interfaces over the command line. The most popular options include:
.:. phpMyAdmin - A popular web interface that is included with almost every type of Shared, Virtual or
Dedicated hosting solution.
.:. MySQL Administrator - A powerful tool developed by the folks atMySQL.com.
.:. Navicat - A purchasable MySQL admin tool for Windows, Mac and Linux.
MySQL phpMyAdmin
As previously mentioned, the very popular phpMyAdmin tool should come with your web hosting
plan.
MySQL Administrator
This tool comes from the creators of MySQL, so you can be assured they have a solid
understanding of database optimization and stability for power users. There are currently two
versions of MySQL Administrator:1.0 and 1.1. MySQL.com recommends you use 1.1 if your
MySQL installation is 4.0, 4.1 or 5.0. Read moreabout the MySQL Administrator on MySQL.com's
web site.
MySQL Navicat
Navicat comes with a 30-day trial so you can play around and see if you feel like dropping the
cashfor this MySQL administration product. A brief overview of their product Navicat Admin can be
found on their website. The cost of this product is around $100.
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MySQL Syntax
The great thing about everything you do in MySQL is thatthe "code" is very easy for humans to
read, as opposed to harder programming languages like C or C++. Very few special characters and
symbols are required to create a MySQL query, and most queries consistentirely of English words!
Strategies to Learn MySQL

The MySQL language is not as complicated as most programming languages, so the best way to
learn is with direct examples. Because this tutorial focuses on the combination of MySQL and PHP,
most of the examples are ready for you to copy, paste, and run on your web server.
CAPITALIZATION in MySQL Queries

There are many keywords in MySQL, and a good programming habit when using ANY of these
words is to capitalize them. This helps draw them out from the rest of the code and makes them much
easier to read. Below is an example of a MySQLquery written in PHP that retrieves all the data from
a MySQL table named "example".
.:. $result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM example")
That line of code is valid PHP, but it also contains valid MySQL. The text that appears between
the quotations "SELECT * FROM example", is the MySQL code.
As you probably can tell "SELECT" and "FROM" are the MySQL keywords used in this query.
Capitalizing them allows you to tell from a quick glance that this query selects data from a table.
You can view a complete list of MySQL keywords at List of Reserved MySQL Words, but don't
worry about memorizing them. You could program relentlessly in MySQL for years without ever
using all of the MySQL keywords.
Learn at Your Own Pace

When learning MySQL, it is best to take it one lesson at a time and stop when you feel frustrated.
Do not worry if it takes you more than a week to finish this tutorial. If you take the time to progress
slowly, you will be much morewell-informed about the MySQL database system than if you rushed
through it in one sitting.
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MySQL Database
A MySQL database is nothing in itself. Rather a MySQL database is a way of organizing a group
of tables. If you were going to create a bunch of different tables that shared a common theme, you
would group them into one databaseto make the management process easier.
Creating Your First Database

Most web hosts do not allow you to create a database directly througha PHP script. Instead they
require that you use the PHP/MySQL administration tools on the web hostcontrol panel to create
these databases. Create a database and assign a newuser to this database. For all of our beginning
examples we will be using the followinginformation:
.:.
.:.
.:.
.:.
.:.
Server - localhost
Database - test
Table - example
Username - admin
Password - 1admin
Note: The table may change in the advanced lessons, but everything else will remain the same!
The server is the name of the server we want to connect to. Because all of our scripts are going to
be placed on the server where MySQL is located the correct address is localhost. If the MySQL
server was on a different machine from where the script was running, then you would need to enter
the correct url (ask your web host for specifics on this).
Your database, table, username, and password do not have to match ours. If you choose a different
set of login information, remember to insert your own information when copying the scripts in this
tutorial.
Status Check
So far, you should have created a new database and assigned a user to it. You should not have
created a table yet. If you are up-to-date, then continue the tutorial. We will be making our first table
in an upcoming lesson.
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MySQL Connect
Before you can do anything with MySQL in PHP you must first establish a connection to your web
host's MySQL database. This is done with the MySQL connect function.
MySQL localhost
If you've been around the internet a while, you'll know that IP addresses are used as identifiers for
computers and web servers. In this example of a connection script, we assume that the MySQL
service is running on the same machine as the script.
When the PHP script and MySQL are on the same machine, you can use localhost as the address
you wish to connect to. localhost is a shortcut to just have the machine connect to itself. If your
MySQL service is running at a separate location you will need to insert the IP address or URL in
place of localhost. Please contact your web host for more details if localhost does not work.
PHP & MySQL Code:
<?php
mysql_connect("localhost", "admin", "1admin") or die(mysql_error());
echo "Connected to MySQL<br />";
?>
Display:
Connected to MySQL
If you load the above PHP script to your webserver and everything works properly,then you should
see "Connected to MySQL" displayed when you view the .php page.
The mysql_connect function takes three arguments. Server, username, andpassword. In our
example above these arguments were:
.:. Server - localhost
.:. Username - admin
.:. Password - 1admin
The "or die(mysql..." code displays an error message in your browser if --you've probably guessed
it -- there is an error in processing the connection! Double-check your username, password, or server
if you receive this error.
Choosing the Working Database

After establishing a MySQL connection with the code above, you thenneed to choose which
database you will be using with this connection. This isdone with the mysql_select_db function.
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PHP & MySQL Code:

<?php
echo "Connected to MySQL<br />";
mysql_select_db("test") or die(mysql_error());
echo "Connected to Database";
?>
Display:
Connected to MySQL
Connected to Database
Status Check
So far you should have made a MySQL connection and chosen the working database. If you are
up-to-date then continue the tutorial. We will be making our first table in the next lesson.
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MySQL Tables
A MySQL table is completely different than the normal table that you eat dinneron. In MySQL
and other database systems, the goal is to store information in an orderlyfashion. The table gets this
done by making the table up of columns and rows.
The columns specify what the data is going to be, while the rows contain the actual data.Below is
how you could imagine a MySQL table. (C = Column, R = Row)
C1 (Namge)
C2 (Age)
C3 (Weight)
R1
R1 C1 (John)
R1 C2 (21)
R1 C3 (120)
R2
R2 C1 (Big Sally)
R2 C2 (27)
R2 C3 (400)
R3
R3 C1 (Tiny Tim)
R3 C2 (6)
R3 C3 (35)
R4
R4 C1 (Normal Ned)
R4 C2 (35)
R4 C3 (160)
We added the row and column number (R# C#) so that you can see that a row is side-to-side, while
a column is up-to-down. In a real MySQL table only the value would be stored, not the R# and C#!
This table has three categories, or "columns", of data: Name, Age, and Weight. This table hasfour
entries, or in other words, four rows.
Create Table MySQL

Before you can enter data (rows) into a table, you must first define what kinds of data will be
stored (columns).We are now going to design a MySQL query to summon our table from database
land. In future lessons we willbe using this table, so be sure to enter this query correctly!
PHP & MySQL Code:
<?php
// Make a MySQL Connection
// Create a MySQL table in the selected database
mysql_query("CREATE TABLE example(
id INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
PRIMARY KEY(id),
name VARCHAR(30),
age INT)")
or die(mysql_error());
echo "Table Created!";
?>
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Display:
Table Created!
Wow! That's a lot of code all at once! Let's get down in the dirt and figurethis stuff out. We will
be going through the code line by line.
'mysql_query ("CREATE TABLE example'

The first part of the mysql_query told MySQL that we wanted to create a newtable. The two
capitalized words are reserved MySQL keywords.
The word "example" is the name of our table, as it came directly after "CREATETABLE". It is a
good idea to use descriptive names when creating a table, such as:employee_information, contacts, or
customer_orders. Clear names will ensure thatyou will know what the table is about when revisiting
it a year after you make it.
'id INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT'

Here we create a column "id" that will automatically increment eachtime a new entry is added to
the table. This will result in the first row in the table having an id = 1, the second row id = 2, the third
row id = 3, and so on.
The column "id" is not something that we need to worry aboutafter we create this table, as it is all
automatically calculated within MySQL.
Reserved MySQL Keywords: Here are a few quick definitions of the reserved words usedin this
line of code:
.:. INT - This stands for integer or whole number. 'id' has been defined to be an integer.
.:. NOT NULL - These are actually two keywords, but they combine togetherto say that this column
cannot be null. An entry is NOT NULL only if it has some value, while something with no value is
NULL.
.:. AUTO_INCREMENT - Each time a new entry is added the value willbe incremented by 1.
'PRIMARY KEY (id)'

PRIMARY KEY is used as a unique identifier for the rows. Here we havemade "id" the
PRIMARY KEY for this table. This means thatno two ids can be the same, or else we will run into
trouble. This is why we made"id" an auto-incrementing counter in the previous line of code.
'name VARCHAR(30),'
Here we make a new column with the name "name"! VARCHAR stands for "variable character".
"Character" means that you can put in any kind of typed information in this column (letters, numbers,
symbols, etc). It's "variable" because it can adjust its size to store as little as 0 characters and up to a
specified maximum number of characters.
We will most likely only be using this name columnto store characters (A-Z, a-z). The number
inside the parentheses sets the maximum number of characters. In this case, the max is 30.
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'age INT,'
Our third and final column is age, which stores an integer. Notice that there are noparentheses
following "INT". MySQL already knows what to do with an integer. Thepossible integer values that
can be stored in an "INT" are -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647,which is more than enough to store
someone's age!
'or die(mysql_error());'
This will print out an error if there is a problem in the table creation process.
Your Homework
Using the MySQL administration tool that your web host has, check to seeif the table was created
correctly. Afterwards, try creating a few of your own, with PHP or with a MySQL administration
tool, to be sure that you have gotten the hang of it.
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MySQL Insert
When data is put into a MySQL table it is referred to as insertingdata. When inserting data it is
important to remember the exact names and types of the table's columns. If you try to place a 500
word essayinto a column that only accepts integers of size three, you will end up with a nasty error!
Inserting Data Into Your Table

Now that you have created your table, let's put some datainto that puppy! Here is the
PHP/MySQL code for inserting datainto the "example" table we created in the previous lesson.
PHP & MySQL Code:
<?php
// Insert a row of information into the table "example"
mysql_query("INSERT INTO example
(name, age) VALUES('Timmy Mellowman', '23' ) ")
(name, age) VALUES('Sandy Smith', '21' ) ")
(name, age) VALUES('Bobby Wallace', '15' ) ")
echo "Data Inserted!";
?>
Display:
Data Inserted!
This code is much simpler to understand than the create table code, aswill be most of the MySQL
queries you will learn in the rest of this tutorial. Once again,we will cover the code line by line.
'mysql_query("INSERT INTO example'

Again we are using the mysql_query function. "INSERT INTO" means thatdata is going to be put
into a table. The name of the table we specified to insert data into was "example".
'(name, age) VALUES('Timmy Mellowman', '23' ) ")'

"(name, age)" are the two columns we want to add data into. "VALUES"means that what follows
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is the data to be put into the columns that we justspecified.

Mellowman for "name", and 23for "age".
Here we enter the name Timmy
Be sure to note the location and number of apostrophes and parentheses in the PHP code, asthis is
where a lot of beginner PHP/MySQL programmers run into problems.
Review & Homework

If all goes as well, this .php page will add a three people to the "example" table every time it is run.
Be sure to use your MySQL administrationprogram provided by your web host to ensure that the data
was inserted into your table correctly.
Be careful not to run this script more than once, otherwise you will be inserting the same people,
multiple times. This is called inserting duplicate records and is usually avoided.
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MySQL Query
So far we have seen a couple different uses of PHP's mysql_query function and we'll be seeing
more of itas nearly all MySQL in PHP is done through the MySQL Query function. We have already
created a new table and inserted data into that table. In this lesson we willcover the most common
MySQL Query that is used to retrieve information from a database.
Retrieving Data With PHP & MySQL

Usually most of the work done with MySQL involves pulling down datafrom a MySQL database.
In MySQL, data is retrieved with the "SELECT"keyword. Think of SELECT as working the same
way as it does on your computer. Ifyou wanted to copy some information in a document, you would
first select the desired information, then copy and paste.
Using MySQL SELECT & FROM

Before attempting this lesson, be sure that you have created a table that containssome data,
preferably the same data that we had in the MySQL Insert lesson. In this example, we will output the
first entry of our MySQL "examples" table to the web browser.
PHP & MySQL Code:
<?php
// Retrieve all the data from the "example" table
$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM example")
// store the record of the "example" table into $row
$row = mysql_fetch_array( $result );
// Print out the contents of the entry
echo "Name: ".$row['name'];
echo " Age: ".$row['age'];
?>
Display:
Name: Tim Mellowman Age: 23
This is an example of how to use MySQL's SELECT statement in PHP. Although the MySQL
code is simple, printing out the information with PHP is somewhat more involved.
Below is a step-by-step walkthrough of the code.
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'$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM example")'

When you perform a SELECT query on the database it will return a MySQL Resource that hols
everything from your MySQL table, "example". We want to use this Resource in our PHP code, so we
need to store it in a variable, $result.
'SELECT * FROM example'

Yes, this is a partial repeat of the same line of code, but we wanted to explain this MySQL
statement in greater detail again!
In English, this line of code reads "Select every entry from the table example". The asterisk is the
wild card in MySQL which just tells MySQL to include every single column for that table.
'$row = mysql_fetch_array( $result );'

$result is now a MySQL Resource containing data from your MySQL table, "example". Data is
being stored in $result, but it is not yet visible to visitors of your website. When we pass $result into
the mysql_fetch_array function -- mysql_fetch_array($result) -- an associative array (name, age) is
returned.
In our MySQL table "example," there are onlytwo fields that we care about: name and age. These
names are the keys to extracting thedata from our associative array. To get the name we use
$row['name'] and to getthe age we use $row['age'].
PHP is case sensitive when you reference MySQL column names, so be sure to use
capitalizationin your PHP code that matches the MySQL column names!
Continuing the Example

In this lesson, we learned how to get the first entry from a MySQL table and output to the browser
using PHP. In the next lesson we will see how to retrieve every entry of a table and put it into a
nicely formatted table.However, we recommend that you first understand the PHP and MySQL codein
this lesson before proceeding.
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MySQL Fetch Array

MySQL doesn't have a Fetch Array function. mysql_fetch_array is actuallya PHP function that
allows you to access data stored in the result returned from a successful mysql_query.If you have been
jumping around our MySQL Tutorial then you would have already seen thisfunction popping up all
over the place.
This lesson will teach you how and why to use mysql_fetch_array in your PHP Scripts.
mysql_fetch_array: Why Use It?

Do you know what is returned when you used the mysql_query function to query a MySQL
database? It isn't something you can directly manipulate, that is for sure. Here is a sample SELECT
query of a table we created in the MySQL Create Table lesson.
PHP and MySQL Code:
<?php
$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM example");
?>
The value that mysql_query returns and stores into $result is a special type of data, it is a MySQL
Resource. Additional PHP functions are required to extract the data from this Resource.
A Row of Data
The mysql_fetch_array function takes a MySQL query resource as an argument ($result)
andreturns the first row of data returned by the mysql_query. Our table example basically looks like
the table below.
name
age
Timmy Mellowman
Sandy Smith
Bobby Wallace
23
21
15
The first row of data in this table is "Timmy Mellowman" and "23". When we fetch an
array from our MySQL Resource $result it should have Timmy's name and age in it.
Getting a Row of Data using mysql_fetch_array

mysql_fetch_array returns the first row in a MySQL Resource in the form of an
associative array. The columns of the MySQL Result can be accessed by using the column
names of the table. In our table example these are: name and age. Here is the codeto print
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out the first MySQL Result row.

PHP and MySQL Code:
<?php
$query = "SELECT * FROM example";
$result = mysql_query($query) or die(mysql_error());
$row = mysql_fetch_array($result) or die(mysql_error());
echo $row['name']. " - ". $row['age'];
?>
Display:
Timmy Mellowman - 23
This is just what we expected would happen! Now, the cool thing about mysql_fetch_arrayis that
you can use it again on the same MySQL Resource to return the second, third, fourth and so on
rows.You can keep doing this until the MySQL Resource has reached the end (which would be three
times in our example).
Sounds like an awfully repetitive task. It would be nice if we could get all our results from a
MySQL Resource in aneasy to do script.
Fetch Array While Loop

As we have said, the mysql_fetch_array function returns an associative array, but it also
returnsFALSE if there are no more rows to return! Using a PHP While Loop wecan use this
information to our advantage.
If we place the statement "$row = mysql_fetch_array()" as our while loop's conditional statement
we willaccomplish two things:
1. We will get a new row of MySQL information that we can print out each time the while loop checks
its conditional statement.
2. When there are no more rows the function will return FALSE causing the while loop to stop!
Now that we know what we need to do and how to go about doing it, the code pretty much writes
itself, so let's move on to the next lesson. Just kidding! Here is the code that will print out all the rows
of our MySQL Resource.
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PHP and MySQL Code:

<?php
$query = "SELECT * FROM example";
while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)){
<indent>echo $row['name']. " - ". $row['age'];
echo "<br />";</indent>
}
?>
Display:
Sandy Smith - 21
Bobby Wallace - 15
And there we have all the rows from our example table! You could apply this script to any
MySQL table as long as you change both the table name in the query and the column names that we
have in the associative array.
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MySQL Select
You have seen two types of MySQL queries thus far: the query which we usedto create a table and
the query we used to insert data into our newly createdtable. The query in this lesson is SELECT,
which is used to get informationfrom the database, so that its data can be used in our PHP script.
Retrieving Information from MySQL

Finally, we get to use the data in our MySQL database to createa dynamic PHP page. In this
example we will select everything in our table "example"and put it into a nicely formatted HTML
table. Remember, if you don't understandthe HTML or PHP code, be sure to check out the HTML
and/or PHP Tutorial(s).
PHP & MySQL Code:
<?php
// Get all the data from the "example" table
echo "<table border='1'>";
echo "<tr> <th>Name</th> <th>Age</th>
</tr>";
// keeps getting the next row until there are no more to get
while($row = mysql_fetch_array( $result )) {
// Print out the contents of each row into a table
echo "<tr><td>";
echo $row['name'];
echo "</td><td>";
echo $row['age'];
echo "</td></tr>";
}
echo "</table>";
?>
Name
Age
Timmy Mellowman
Sandy Smith
Bobby Wallace
23
21
15
Because we only had three entries in our table, three rows appeared above. If you added
more entries to your database's table, then you would see each additional row appear in the
above table. If you do not understand the above PHP, you can view our PHP Array Tutorial
&
PHP Loop Tutorial.
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'$result = mysql_query...'
When you select items from a database using mysql_query, the datais returned as a
MySQL result. Since we want to use this data in our table we needto store it in a variable.
$result now holds the result from our mysql_query.
'SELECT * FROM example'

In English, this line of code reads "Select everything from the table example".The asterisk
is the wild card in MySQL which just tells MySQL to retrieve every single field from the
table.
'while($row = mysql_fetch_array( $result )'

The mysql_fetch_array function gets the next-in-line associative array from a MySQL
result.By putting it in a while loop it will continue to fetch the next array until there is no next
array to fetch. This function can be called as many times as you want, but it will return
FALSE when the last associative array has already been returned.
By placing this function within the conditional statement of the while loop, we can kill
two birds with one stones.
1. We can retrieve the next associative array from our MySQL Resource, $result, so that we can print
out the name and age of that person.
2. We can tell the while loop to stop printingn out information when the MySQL Resource has returned
the last array, as False is returned when it reaches the end and this will cause the while loop to halt.
In our MySQL table "example" there are onlytwo fields that we care about: name and age.
These fields are the keys to extracting the data from our associative array. To get the name
we use $row['name'] and to getthe age we use $row['age'].
Practice What You Have Learned

Use the query that we have provided or make a new one andtry putting it into a formatted
HTML table. It might be useful to try out other methods of HTML formatting as well. See
which one you like best!
By now you should be starting to understand how powerful PHP and MySQL are when
used together. The tasks that you can complete with MySQL and PHP wouldbe nearly
impossible to do by hand in HTML. Imagine trying to create an HTMLtable of 6000 entries
without using a MySQL database and a PHP while loop!
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MySQL Where
In a previous lesson we did a SELECT query to get all the data from our "example" table.
If we wanted to select only certain entries of our table, then we would use the keyword
WHERE.
WHERE lets you specify requirements that entries must meet in order to be returned in the
MySQL result. Those entries that do not pass the test will be left out. We will be assuming
the data from a previous lesson for the following examples.
Being Selective With Your MySQL Selection

There are three entries in our "example" table: Tim, Sandy, and Bobby. To selectSandy
only we could either specify Sandy's age (21) or we could use her name(Sandy Smith). In
the future there may be other people who are 21, so we willuse her name as our requirement.
WHERE is used in conjuction with a mathematical statement. In our example we will
want to select all rows that have the string "Sandy Smith" in the "names"column
(mathematically: {name column} = "Sandy Smith"). Here's how to do it.
PHP & MySQL Code:
<?php
// Get a specific result from the "example" table
$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM example
WHERE name='Sandy Smith'") or die(mysql_error());
// get the first (and hopefully only) entry from the result
echo $row['name']." - ".$row['age'];
?>
Display:
Sandy Smith - 21
MySQL Wildcard Usage '%'

If you wanted to select every person in the table who was in their 20's, howcould you go about
doing it? With the tools you have now, you could make 10 differentqueries, one for each age 20, 21,
22...but that seems like more work than weneed to do.
In MySQL there is a "wildcard" character '%' that can be used to searchfor partial matches in your
database. The '%' tells MySQL to ignore thetext that would normally appear in place of the wildcard.
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For example '2%' wouldmatch the following: 20, 25, 2000000, 2avkldj3jklsaf, and 2!
On the other hand, '2%' would not match the following: 122, a20, and 32.
MySQL Query WHERE With Wildcard

To solve our problem from before, selecting everyone who is their 20's fromor MySQL table, we
can utilize wildcards to pick out all strings startingwith a 2.
PHP & MySQL Code:
<?php
// Connect to MySQL
// Insert a row of information into the table "example"
$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM example WHERE age LIKE '2%' ")
// Print out the contents of each row
echo $row['name']." - ".$row['age']. "<br />";
}
?>
Display:
Sandy Smith - 21
You can use this wildcard at the beginning, middle, and end of the string. Experimentwith it so
you can see for yourself how powerful this little trick can be.
Note: The wildcard was used for example purposes only. If you really wanted to explicilty select
people who are in their 20's you would use greater than 19 and less than 30 to define the 20's range.
Using a wildcard in this example would select unwanted cases, like a 2 year old and your 200 year old
great-great-great-grandparents.
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MySQL Order By
It would be nice to be able to make MySQL results easier to read and understand. A commonway
to do this in the real world is to order a big list of items by name or amount. The way to order your
result in MySQL is to use the ORDER BY statement.
What ORDER BY does is take the a column name that you specify and sort it in alphabetical
order (or numeric order if you are using numbers). Then when you use mysql_fetch_array to print out
the result, the values are already sorted and easy to read.
Ordering is also used quite frequently to add additional functionality to webpages that useany type
of column layout. For example, some forums let you sort by date, thread title, post count, view count,
and more.
Sorting a MySQL Query - ORDER BY

Let's use the same query we had in MySQL Select and modify itto ORDER BY the person's age.
The code from MySQL Select looked like...
PHP & MySQL Code:
<?php
</tr>";
echo "<tr><td>";
echo $row['name'];
echo "</td><td>";
echo $row['age'];
echo "</td></tr>";
}
echo "</table>";
?>
Name
Age
Timmy Mellowman
Sandy Smith
Bobby Wallace
23
21
15
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What we need to do is add on to the existing MySQL statement "SELECT * FROM

example" to include our new ordering requirement. When you choose to order a column, be
sure that your ORDER BY appears after the SELECT ... FROM partof the MySQL statement.
PHP & MySQL Code:
<?php
$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM example ORDER BY age")
</tr>";
echo "<tr><td>";
echo $row['name'];
echo "</td><td>";
echo $row['age'];
echo "</td></tr>";
}
echo "</table>";
?>
Name
Age
Bobby Wallace
Sandy Smith
Timmy Mellowman
15
21
23
Presto! We have an ordered MySQL result! Notice that we didn't have to change any of
our PHP code.Remember this whenever you're editing a PHP script that uses MySQL.
Sometimes it may be easier to just tweak your MySQL query instead of trying to mess around
in PHP.
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MySQL Joins
Thus far we have only been getting data from one table at a time. This is fine for simple
takes, but in most real world MySQL usage you will often need to get data frommultiple
tables in a single query.
The act of joining in MySQL refers to smashingtwo or more tables into a single table.
This means everything you have learned so far can be applied after you've created this new,
joined table.
MySQL Join Table Setup

We like to show examples and code before we explain anything in detail, so here is how
you would combine two tables into one using MySQL. The two tables we will be using relate
to a families eating habits.
Position
Age
Dad
Mom
Daughter
Dog
41
45
17
Meal
Position
Steak
Salad
Spinach Soup
Tacos
Dad
Mom
Dad
The important thing to note here is that the column Position contains information that can
tie these two tables together. In the "family" table, the Position column contains all the
members of the family and their respective ages. In the "food" table the Position column
contains the family member who enjoys that dish.
It's only through a shared column relationship such as this that tables can be joined
together,so remember this when creating tables you wish to have interact with each other.
MySQL Join Simple Example

Let's imagine that we wanted to SELECT all the dishes that were liked by a family
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member. If you remember from the previous lesson, this is a situation when we need to use
the WHERE clause. We want to SELECT all the dishes WHERE a family member likes it.
We will be performing a generic join of these two tables using the Position column from
each table as the connector.
Note: This example assumes you have created the MySQL tables "food" and "family". If
you do not have either of them created, you can either create them using our MySQL Create
Table lesson or do it manually yourself.
PHP and MySQL Code:
<?php
// Construct our join query
$query = "SELECT family.Position, food.Meal ".
"FROM family, food ".
"WHERE family.Position = food.Position";
echo $row['Position']. " - ". $row['Meal'];
echo "<br />";
}
?>
The statement "WHERE family.Position = food.Position" will restrict the results to the rows where
the Position exists in both the "family" and "food" tables.
Display:
Dad - Steak
Mom - Salad
Dad - Tacos
Those are the results of our PHP script. Let's analyze the tables to make sure we agree with these
results.
Position
Age
Dad
Mom
Daughter
Dog
41
45
17
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Meal
Position
Steak
Dad
Salad
Mom
Spinach Soup
Tacos
Dad
Our results show that there were three meals that were liked by family members. And by
manuallyperusing the tables it looks like there were indeed three meals liked by family
members.
Note: This is a very simple example of a join. If you do not understand it yet do not
despair.Joins are a very hard concept to grasp for beginning MySQL developers.
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MySQL LEFT JOIN

In the previous lesson, Mysql Joins we learned how to do a basic join of two tables. This
lesson will teach you how to do a specialized join: left join.
MySQL LEFT JOIN Explanation

How is a LEFT JOIN different from a normal join? First of all, the syntax is quite
different and somewhat more complex. Besides looking different,the LEFT JOIN gives extra
consideration to the table that ison the left.
Being "on the left" simply refers to the table that appears before theLEFT JOIN in our
SQL statement. Nothing tricky about that.
This extra consideration to the left table can be thought of as special kind of preservation.
Each item in the left table will show up in a MySQL result, even if there isn'ta match with the
other table that it is being joined to.
MySQL Join and LEFT JOIN Differences

Here are the tables we used in the previous Mysql Joins lesson.
Position
Age
Dad
Mom
Daughter
Dog
41
45
17
Meal
Position
Steak
Dad
Salad
Mom
Spinach Soup
Tacos
Dad
We executed a simple query that selected all meals that were liked by a family member
withthis simple join query:
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Simplified MySQL Query:

SELECT food.Meal, family.Position
FROM family, food
WHERE food.Position = family.Position
Result:
Dad - Steak
Mom - Salad
Dad - Tacos
When we decide to use a LEFT JOIN in the query instead, all the family members be listed, even if
they do not have a favorite dish in our food table.
This is because a left join will preserve the records of the "left" table.
MySQL LEFT JOIN Example

The code below is the exact same as the code in the previous lesson, except the LEFT JOIN has
now been added to the query. Let's see if the results are what we expected.
PHP and MySQL Code:
<?php
// Construct our join query
$query = "SELECT family.Position, food.Meal ".
<indent>"FROM family LEFT JOIN food ".
"ON family.Position = food.Position";</indent>
<indent>echo $row['Position']. " - ". $row['Meal'];
echo "<br />";</indent>
}
?>
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Display:
Dad - Steak
Dad - Tacos
Mom - Salad
Daughter Dog -
Success! The LEFT JOIN preserved every family member, including those who don't yet have a
favorite meal in the food table! Please feel free to playaround with LEFT JOIN until you feel like you
have a solid grasp of it. This stuff isn't easy!
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MySQL Update
Imagine that you have a MySQL table that holds the information of all the employees in your
company. One of the columns in this table is called "Seniority" and it holds an integer value of how
many months an employee has worked at your company. Unfortunately for you, your job is to update
these numbers every month.
You may be thinking that you'll have to open up your MySQL administration tool and edit each
entry by hand. That would take hours. On the other hand, you could master MySQL and have an
automated script that you run each month toget the job done for you.
In this lesson you will learn how to replace the existing data of a MySQL table with freshly
supplied up-to-date data using the UPDATE MySQL query.
MySQL Update Example

Once again we will be working with the data from a previous example. Sandy has just had a
birthday and she now 22 years old. Our job now is to update her age using MySQL commands like
UPDATE, SET, and WHERE.
.:. UPDATE - Performs an update MySQL query
.:. SET - The new values to be placed into the table follow SET
.:. WHERE - Limits which rows are affected
PHP & MySQL Code:

<?php
// Connect to MySQL
// Get Sandy's record from the "example" table
$result = mysql_query("UPDATE example SET age='22' WHERE age='21'")
$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM example WHERE age='22'")
// get the first (and hopefully only) entry from the result
echo $row['name']." - ".$row['age']. "<br />";
?>
Display:
Sandy Smith - 22
Now it is important to note that this query would have updated ALL records that had an age of 21
to the new age of 22. In a table where Sandy is not the onlyl entry, this may become a problem, and a
more sophisticated solution would be necessary.
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MySQL Delete
Maintenance is a very common task that is necessary for keeping MySQL tables current. From
time to time, you may even need to delete items from your database.Some potential reasons for
deleting a record from MySQL include when: someone deletes a post from a forum,an employee
leaves a company, or you're trying to destroy your records before the federalies come!
MySQL DELETE Example

The DELETE query is very similar to the UPDATE Queryin the previous lesson. We need to
choose a table, tell MySQL to perform the deletion, and provide the requirements that a record must
have for it to be deleted.
Say we want to delete the youngest employee from our previously created table because he has to
go back to school. This is how we do it.
PHP & MySQL Code:
<?php
// Connect to MySQL
// Delete Bobby from the "example" MySQL table
mysql_query("DELETE FROM example WHERE age='15'")
?>
It is important to note that this query would have deleted ALLrecords that had an age of 15. Since
Bobby was the only15 year old this was not a problem.
MySQL DELETE Tips

Before performing a large delete on a database, be sure to back up the table/databasein case your
script takes off a little more than desired. Test your delete queriesbefore even thinking about using
them on your table. As long as you take cautionwhen using this powerful query you should not run
into any problems.
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MySQL Database Backups

If you're storing anything in MySQL databases that you do not want to lose, chances are you
should be doing weekly or even daily backups. Depending on what you're using your databases for -be it to store forum messages,employee information, or your spending information -- you are going to
need to choose a backup schedule that meets your needs.
You may or may not know that MySQL databases are just files that are stored on your web server.
This fact makes the whole backup and restore process extremely simple and painless once you have
figured out how to do it.
Different Ways to Get That Backup Done

There are many paths you can take to create a MySQL backup. However, no matter which
application, control panel tool, or SSH script you use, all of the backups will fit into two types of
backups: a dump or raw backup.
MySQL Dump
A MySQL dump is a bit slower than a raw backup because it creates all the SQL queries required
to create the tables of that database, as well as all the insert queries required to place the information
back into the database's tables.
If you want to perform the mysql dump manually, without the assistance of your hosts control
panel, then run SSH to your web server and do the following (taken from MySql.com):
.:. mysqldump --tab=/path/to/some/dir --opt db_name
If you were to open up a MySQL dump file you would see a slew of SQL queries that you would
probably be able to understand (if you've already read through this whole tutorial!).
MySQL Raw Backup

A MySQL Raw Backup is quicker because it does not translate the contents of the database into
human readable SQL queries. However, not many control panels support this type of backup, so do
not worry if your hosting provider doesn't have this option set up for you.
MySQL Backup in Control Panel cPanel

cPanel is the most widely used web host control panel at this time, so we thought it would make
sense to provide a walkthrough specifically for cPanel.
From the application selection screen click "Backup". This will bring you to the backup
application that allows you to generate and download complete backups for your site.
To back up a database individually, look for the title "Download a SQL Database Backup" or
something similar. Below that title should be a listing of every databasethat you have created.
Simply click on the name of the database you want to backup and save it to your computer.
That's it! Now just be sure that you have a regular backup schedule, just in case the unthinkable
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happens and your web host loses all your database information!
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MySQL GROUP BY - Aggregate Functions

After you have mastered the basics of MySQL, it's time to take the next step and take on
Aggregate Functions. Before we talk about what they are, let's review the definition of aggregate, as
it relates to MySQL:
.:. Aggregate - Constituting or amounting to a whole; total. ~American Heritage Dictionary
With this type of wording, we can assume that MySQL's aggregate functions are something that
will be very top-level, or in other words, the opposite of detailed.
The most common types of aggregate functions let you find out things like the minimum,
maximum and even the average of a "grouped" set of data. The trick to understanding aggregate
functions is often understanding what kind of data is being grouped and analyzed.
MySQL GROUP BY - The Data

Before we can start throwing around these fancy functions, let's build an appropriate table that has
enough data in it to be meaningful to us. Below is the SQL for our "products" table. You can either
run this SQL statement in your MySQL administrator software or use MySQL to execute the queries
(i.e. create table, then each of the records).
You can download the products.sql file fromour website. If you are new to MySQL you will need
to know how to Create a MySQL Table and Insert a MySQL Row.
Below is the MySQL table products.
id
name
type
price
123451
123452
123453
123454
123455
123456
123457
123458
Park's Great Hits

Silly Puddy
Playstation
Men's T-Shirt
Blouse
Electronica 2002
Country Tunes
Watermelon
Music
Toy
Toy
Clothing
Clothing
Music
Music
Food
19.99
3.99
89.95
32.50
34.97
3.99
21.55
8.73
GROUP BY - Creating Your First "Group"

Imagine that our store was running an advertisement in the newspaper and we wanted to
have a "bargain basement" section that listed the lowest price of each product type.In this
case we would be "grouping" by the product type and finding the minimum price of each
group.
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Our query needs to return two columns: product type and minimum price. Additionally,
we want to use the type column as our group. The SELECT statement we are about to use
will look different because it includes an aggregate function, MIN, and the GROUP BY
statement, but otherwise it isn't any different than a normal SELECT statement.
PHP and MySQL Code:
<?php
$query = "SELECT type, MIN(price) FROM products GROUP BY type";
// Print out result
echo $row['type']. " - $". $row['MIN(price)'];
echo "<br />";
}
?>
Our "products" table has four types of products: Music, Toy, Clothing and Food. When we
GROUP BY type then we get one result for each of these types.
Display:
Clothing - $32.50
Food - $8.73
Music - $3.99
Toy - $3.99
MySQL GROUP BY - Review

Group BY is good for retrieving information about a group of data. If you only had one product of
each type, then GROUP BY would not be all that useful.
GROUP BY only shines when you have many similar things. For example, if you have a number
of products of the same type, and you wantto find out some statistical information like the minimum,
maximum, or other top-level info, you would use GROUP BY.
Some technical rules of GROUP BY:
.:. The column that you GROUP BY must also be in your SELECT statement.
.:. Remember to group by the column you want information about and not the oneyou are applying the
aggregate function on. In our above example we wanted informationon the type column and the
aggregate function was applied to the price column.
The next few lessons will provide a walkthrough for using other popular MySQL aggregate
functions in conjunction with the GROUP BY statement.
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MySQL Aggregate Functions - COUNT()

This lesson will teach you how to use the aggregate function COUNT(). If you missed the
Aggregate Introduction Lesson, please check it out now, as it explains many concepts used in this
lesson!
We will be using the "products" table that we constructed to display the use of MySQL's COUNT
function.
You can download the products.sql file from our website. If you are new to MySQL you will need
to know how to Create a MySQL Table and Insert a MySQL Row first.
Below is the MySQL table "products".
id
name
type
price
123451
123452
123453
123454
123455
123456
123457
123458
Park's Great Hits

Silly Puddy
Playstation
Men's T-Shirt
Blouse
Electronica 2002
Country Tunes
Watermelon
Music
Toy
Toy
Clothing
Clothing
Music
Music
Food
19.99
3.99
89.95
32.50
34.97
3.99
21.55
8.73
MySQL COUNT - Counting Records

The COUNT function is an aggregate function that simply counts all the items that are in a
group. The "products" table that is displayed above has several products of various types.
One use of COUNT might be to find out how many items of each type there are in the table.
Just as we did in the aggregate introduction lesson, we are going to GROUP BY type to
create four groups: Music, Toy, Clothing and Food. For a slight change of pace, let's count
the name column to find how many products there are per type.
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PHP and MySQL Code:

<?php
$query = "SELECT type, COUNT(name) FROM products GROUP BY type";
// Print out result
echo "There are ". $row['COUNT(name)'] ." ". $row['type'] ." items.";
echo "<br />";
}
?>
Display:
There
There
There
There
are
are
are
are
2
1
3
2
Clothing items.
Food items.
Music items.
Toy items.
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MySQL Aggregate Functions - SUM()

This lesson will teach you how to use the aggregate function SUM(). If you haven't alreadyread
through Tizag's Aggregate Introduction Lesson, please check it out now. It explains concepts used in
this lesson.
We will be using the "products" table again -- this time to display the use of MySQL's SUM
function.
You can download the products.sql file from our website. If you are new to MySQL you will need
to know how to Create a MySQL Table and Insert a MySQL Row.
Here's a visual of the "products" table.
id
name
type
price
123451
123452
123453
123454
123455
123456
123457
123458
Park's Great Hits

Silly Puddy
Playstation
Men's T-Shirt
Blouse
Electronica 2002
Country Tunes
Watermelon
Music
Toy
Toy
Clothing
Clothing
Music
Music
Food
19.99
3.99
89.95
32.50
34.97
3.99
21.55
8.73
MySQL SUM - Totaling Groups

SUM is an aggregate function that totals a specific column for a group. The "products"
table that is displayed above has several products of various types. One use of SUM might be
to find the total of all the items' price for each product type.
Just as we did in the aggregate introduction lesson, we are going to apply the aggregate
functionto price and GROUP BY type tocreate four groups: Music, Toy, Clothing and Food.
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PHP and MySQL Code:

<?php
$query = "SELECT type, SUM(price) FROM products GROUP BY type";
// Print out result
echo "Total ". $row['type']. " = $". $row['SUM(price)'];
echo "<br />";
}
?>
Display:
Total
Total
Total
Total
Clothing = $67.47
Food = $8.73
Music = $45.53
Toy = $93.94
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MySQL Aggregate Functions - AVG()

This lesson will teach you how to use the aggregate function AVG(). If you missed the Aggregate
Introduction Lesson, please check it out now. It explains the meaning of aggregates and describes the
GROUP BY statement.
The table we will be using is "products" and you can download the products.sql file so you can
follow along. The table can be entered through you MySQL interface or through PHP.
If you are new to MySQL/PHP programming you will need to know how to Create a MySQL
Table and Insert a MySQL Row.
id
name
type
price
123451
123452
123453
123454
123455
123456
123457
123458
Park's Great Hits

Silly Puddy
Playstation
Men's T-Shirt
Blouse
Electronica 2002
Country Tunes
Watermelon
Music
Toy
Toy
Clothing
Clothing
Music
Music
Food
19.99
3.99
89.95
32.50
34.97
3.99
21.55
8.73
MySQL Average - Finding a Middle Ground

The AVG function returns the average value for the specified column of a group.
Our imaginary customers have been complaining recently that our prices are too high, so
we wouldlike to find out the average price of each product type to see if this is in fact the
truth.
To find out this metric we are going to apply the aggregate function to the price and
GROUP BY type to create four price groups: Music, Toy, Clothing and Food.
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PHP and MySQL Code:

<?php
$query = "SELECT type, AVG(price) FROM products GROUP BY type";
// Print out result
echo "The average price of ". $row['type']. " is $".$row['AVG(price)'];
echo "<br />";
}
?>
Display:
The
The
The
The
average
average
average
average
price
price
price
price
of
of
of
of
Clothing is $33.735000
Food is $8.730000
Music is $15.176667
Toy is $46.970000
Those prices seem very reasonable, in my opinion. I think our imaginary customers should change
their view and keep buying products from us.
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MySQL Aggregate Functions - MIN()

This lesson will teach you how to use the aggregate function MIN(). If you missed the Aggregate
Introduction Lesson, you might want to checkit out to learn about the GROUP BY statement and its
use with MySQL aggregate functions.
You can download the table used in this example, products.sql, from our website. A SQL file can
be run through your MySQL administrator interface to create the table.
However, if you would like to create the table with PHP/MySQL, check out our Create a MySQL
Table and Insert a MySQL Row lessons.
id
name
type
price
123451
123452
123453
123454
123455
123456
123457
123458
Park's Great Hits

Silly Puddy
Playstation
Men's T-Shirt
Blouse
Electronica 2002
Country Tunes
Watermelon
Music
Toy
Toy
Clothing
Clothing
Music
Music
Food
19.99
3.99
89.95
32.50
34.97
3.99
21.55
8.73
MySQL MIN
The MIN function is an aggregate function that findsthe smallest value in a group. The
products table that is displayed above has several products of various types. One use of MIN
might be to find out thecheapest item in each group.
Just as we did in theAggregate Introduction Lesson, we are going to GROUP BY type to
create four groups: Music, Toy, Clothing and Food. The column that will have the MIN
functionapplied to it is, of course, price.
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PHP and MySQL Code:

<?php
$query = "SELECT type, MIN(price) FROM products GROUP BY type";
// Print out result
echo "The cheapest ". $row['type']. " is $" .$row['MIN(price)'];
echo "<br />";
}
?>
Display:
The
The
The
The
cheapest
cheapest
cheapest
cheapest
Clothing is $32.50
Food is $8.73
Music is $3.99
Toy is $3.99
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MySQL Aggregate Functions - MAX()

This lesson will teach you how to use the MAX() aggregate function . If you missedthe Aggregate
Introduction Lesson, please check it out now, as it explains many concepts used in this lesson!
You can download the example the products.sql file from our website, which contains the SQL for
the table below.
If you would like to use PHP/MySQL to create the table, then you will need to know how to
Create a MySQL Table and Insert a MySQL Row.
Below is the MySQL table "products".
id
name
type
price
123451
123452
123453
123454
123455
123456
123457
123458
Park's Great Hits

Silly Puddy
Playstation
Men's T-Shirt
Blouse
Electronica 2002
Country Tunes
Watermelon
Music
Toy
Toy
Clothing
Clothing
Music
Music
Food
19.99
3.99
89.95
32.50
34.97
3.99
21.55
8.73
MySQL MAX - Finding the Big One

MySQL's MAX aggregate function will findthe largest value in a group. The "products"
table that is displayed above has several products of various types. We could use the MAX
function to find the most expensive item for each type of product.
Just as we did in the aggregate introduction lesson, we are going to GROUP BY type to
create four groups: Music, Toy, Clothing and Food. We will also be applying the aggregate
function to the price column.
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PHP and MySQL Code:

<?php
$query = "SELECT type, MAX(price) FROM products GROUP BY type";
// Print out result
echo "The most expensive ". $row['type']. " is $" .$row['MAX(price)'];
echo "<br />";
}
?>
Display:
The
The
The
The
most
most
most
most
expensive
expensive
expensive
expensive
Clothing is $34.97
Food is $8.73
Music is $21.55
Toy is $89.95
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MySQL - SQL Injection Prevention

If you have ever taken raw user input and inserted it into a MySQL database there's a chance that
you have left yourself wide open for a security issue known as SQL Injection. This lesson will teach
you how to help prevent this from happening and help you secure your scripts and MySQL statements.
What is SQL Injection

SQL injection refers to the act of someone inserting a MySQL statement to be run on your
database without your knowledge. Injection usually occurs when you ask a user for input, like their
name, and instead of a name they give you a MySQL statement that you will unknowingly run on
your database.
SQL Injection Example

Below is a sample string that has been gathered from a normal user and a bad user trying to use
SQL Injection. Weasked the users for their login, which will be used to run a SELECT statement to
get their information.
MySQL & PHP Code:
// a good user's name
$name = "timmy";
$query = "SELECT * FROM customers WHERE username = '$name'";
echo "Normal: " . $query . "<br />";
// user input that uses SQL Injection
$name_bad = "' OR 1'";
// our MySQL query builder, however, not a very safe one
$query_bad = "SELECT * FROM customers WHERE username = '$name_bad'";
// display what the new query will look like, with injection
echo "Injection: " . $query_bad;
Display:
Normal: SELECT * FROM customers WHERE username = 'timmy'
Injection: SELECT * FROM customers WHERE username = '' OR 1''
The normal query is no problem, as our MySQL statement will just select everything from
customers that has a username equal to timmy.
However, the injection attack has actually made our query behave differently than we intended. By
using a single quote (') they have ended the string part of our MySQL query
.:. username = ' '
and then added on to our WHERE statement with an OR clause of 1 (always true).
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.:. username = ' ' OR 1
This ORclause of 1 will always be true and so every single entry in the "customers" table would
be selected by this statement!
More Serious SQL Injection Attacks

Although the above example displayed a situation where an attacker could possibly get access to a
lot of information they shouldn't have, the attacks can be a lot worse. For example an attacker could
empty out a table by executing a DELETE statement.
MySQL & PHP Code:
$name_evil = "'; DELETE FROM customers WHERE 1 or username = '";
// our MySQL query builder really should check for injection
$query_evil = "SELECT * FROM customers WHERE username = '$name_evil'";
// the new evil injection query would include a DELETE statement
echo "Injection: " . $query_evil;
Display:
SELECT * FROM customers WHERE username = ' '; DELETE FROM customers WHERE 1 or
username = ' '
If you were run this query, then the injected DELETE statement would completely empty your
"customers" table. Now that you know this is a problem, how can you prevent it?
Injection Prevention - mysql_real_escape_string()

Lucky for you, this problem has been known for a while and PHP has a specially-made function to
prevent these attacks. All you need to do is use the mouthful of a function mysql_real_escape_string.
What mysql_real_escape_string does is take a string that is going to be used in a MySQL
queryand return the same string with all SQL Injection attempts safely escaped. Basically, itwill
replace those troublesome quotes(') a user might enter with a MySQL-safe substitute, an escaped
quote \'.
Lets try out this function on our two previous injection attacks and see how it works.
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MySQL & PHP Code:

//NOTE: you must be connected to the database to use this function!
// connect to MySQL
$name_bad = "' OR 1'";
$name_bad = mysql_real_escape_string($name_bad);
$query_bad = "SELECT * FROM customers WHERE username = '$name_bad'";
echo "Escaped Bad Injection: <br />" . $query_bad . "<br />";
$name_evil = "'; DELETE FROM customers WHERE 1 or username = '";
$name_evil = mysql_real_escape_string($name_evil);
$query_evil = "SELECT * FROM customers WHERE username = '$name_evil'";
echo "Escaped Evil Injection: <br />" . $query_evil;
Display:
Escaped Bad Injection:
SELECT * FROM customers WHERE username = '\' OR 1\''
Escaped Evil Injection:
SELECT * FROM customers WHERE username = '\'; DELETE FROM customers WHERE 1 or
username = \''
Notice that those evil quotes have been escaped with a backslash \, preventing the injection attack.
Nowall these queries will do is try to find a username that is just completely ridiculous:
.:. Bad: \' OR 1\'
.:. Evil: \'; DELETE FROM customers WHERE 1 or username = \'
And I don't think we have to worry about those silly usernames getting access to our MySQL
database.So please do use the handy mysql_real_escape_string() function to help prevent SQL
Injectionattacks on your websites. You have no excuse not to use it after reading this lesson!
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MySQL Date - Formats

MySQL comes with several data types for storing a date in its database system: DATETIME,
DATE, TIMESTAMP, and YEAR. This lesson will show you the proper formats of each type, show
their related MySQL functions, and give an INSERTexample of each.
These date types are chosen for a column when you create a new table in MySQL. Often the most
difficultpart of using dates in MySQL is to be sure the format of the date you are trying to
storematches the format of your table's date column. If you haven't already, try to create a
newMySQL table with the date types we mentioned above.
We have assembled a "date playground" MySQL table that can be used to follow along withthis
lesson. dateplayground.sql. Also, the followingacronyms are used in this lesson:
.:.
.:.
.:.
.:.
.:.
.:.
Y - year segment
M - month segment
D - day segment
H - hour segment
m - minute segment, note the lower case
S - sec segment
MySQL Date - DATE

The default way to store a date in MySQL is with the type DATE. Below is the proper format ofa
DATE.
.:. YYYY-MM-DD
.:. Date Range: 1000-01-01 to 9999-12-31
If you try to enter a date in a format other than the Year-Month-Day format then it might work,but
it won't be storing them as you expect.
To insert the current date into your table you can use MySQL's built-in function CURDATE() in
yourquery. Below we have created 2 dates, one manually and one using CURDATE().
PHP & MySQL Code:
<?php
//This assumes you have already created the 'dateplayground' table
//Connect to DB
$query_manual = "INSERT INTO dateplayground (dp_name, dp_date)
VALUES ('DATE: Manual Date', '2020-2-14')";
$query_auto = "INSERT INTO dateplayground (dp_name, dp_date)
VALUE ('DATE: Auto CURDATE()', CURDATE() )";
mysql_query($query_manual) or die(mysql_error());
mysql_query($query_auto) or die(mysql_error());
?>
MySQL Date - YEAR

If you just need to store the year of an event, MySQL also has a date type just for that. YEAR's
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format is simply:
.:. YYYY
.:. Date Range: 1901 to 2155
It should be noted that the range of years that can be stored are from1901 to 2155. If you need to
store years outside that range then use DATE instead of YEAR.
Below we have created another manual and automatic example to show off YEAR's use. We have
used CURDATE() again, even though it provides a lot more information than YEAR requires. All the
date information, besides the year, is just ignored by YEAR.
PHP & MySQL Code:
<?php
$query_manual = "INSERT INTO dateplayground (dp_name, dp_year)
VALUES ('YEAR: Manual Year', '2011')";
$query_auto = "INSERT INTO dateplayground (dp_name, dp_year)
VALUE ('YEAR: Auto CURDATE()', CURDATE() )";
?>
MySQL Date - DATETIME

DATETIME actually stores both the current date and time, meaning it has the ability to store the
year, month, day, hour, minute, and second inside it. DATETIME's format is:
.:. YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:SS
.:. Date Range: 1000-01-01 00:00:00 to 9999-12-31 23:59:59
The hyphen and the colon are the standard character to separate a date and time respectively, but
MySQL allows for you to choose your own delimiters if you wish.
With DATETIME you can choose to store the date or the time and date together, but you cannot
store just the time.
In our example below we have manually stored a complete DATETIME and also used three
different MySQL functions: CURDATE(), CURTIME(), and NOW().
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PHP & MySQL Code:

<?php
$query_manual = "INSERT INTO dateplayground (dp_name, dp_datetime)
VALUES ('DATETIME: Manual DateTime', '1776-7-4 04:13:54')";
$query_autodate = "INSERT INTO dateplayground (dp_name, dp_datetime)
VALUE ('DATETIME: Auto CURDATE()', CURDATE() )";
$query_autotime = "INSERT INTO dateplayground (dp_name, dp_datetime)
VALUE ('DATETIME: Auto CURTIME()', CURTIME() )"; //This will fail
$query_autonow = "INSERT INTO dateplayground (dp_name, dp_datetime)
VALUE ('DATETIME: Auto NOW()', NOW() )";
mysql_query($query_autodate) or die(mysql_error());
mysql_query($query_autotime) or die(mysql_error());
mysql_query($query_autonow) or die(mysql_error());
?>
MySQL Date - TIMESTAMP

TIMESTAMP is a format popularized by the *NIX operating systems that stores the amount of
time that has passed since January 1, 1970. If you want more versatility than this date type provides,
remember to try DATETIME.
.:. YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:SS
.:. Date Range: 1970-01-01 00:00:00 to 2037-12-31 23:59:59
The big difference between DATETIME and TIMESTAMP is the date ranges that can be stored.
Below we have purposely entered an erroneous date, manually, so you can see what happens when
you enter a date that is outside the boundaries of a this type.
PHP & MySQL Code:
<?php
//This will fail
$query_manual = "INSERT INTO dateplayground (dp_name, dp_timestamp)
VALUES ('TIMESTAMP: Manual Timestamp', '1776-7-4 04:13:54')";
$query_autodate = "INSERT INTO dateplayground (dp_name, dp_timestamp)
VALUE ('TIMESTAMP: Auto CURDATE()', CURDATE() )";
//This will fail
$query_autotime = "INSERT INTO dateplayground (dp_name, dp_timestamp)
VALUE ('TIMESTAMP: Auto CURTIME()', CURTIME() )";
$query_autonow = "INSERT INTO dateplayground (dp_name, dp_timestamp)
VALUE ('TIMESTAMP: Auto NOW()', NOW() )";
mysql_query($query_autodate) or die(mysql_error());
mysql_query($query_autotime) or die(mysql_error());
mysql_query($query_autonow) or die(mysql_error());
?>
Viewing dateplayground in PHP

Below is a quick script that will spit out the MySQL table dateplayground in HTML.
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PHP & MySQL Code:

<?php
$query = "SELECT * FROM dateplayground";
echo "<table border='1'><tr>";
for($i = 0; $i < mysql_num_fields($result); $i++){
echo "<th>".mysql_field_name($result, $i)."</th>";
}
echo "</tr>";
echo "<tr>";
echo "<td>". $row[$i] ."</td>";
}
echo "</tr>";
}
echo "</table>";
?>
dp_name
dp_year
dp_date
dp_datetime
dp_timestamp
DATE: Manual Date

DATE: Auto CURDATE()
YEAR: Manual Year
YEAR: Auto CURDATE()
DATETIME: Manual DateTime
DATETIME: Auto CURDATE()
DATETIME: Auto CURTIME()
DATETIME: Auto NOW()
TIMESTAMP: Manual Timestamp
TIMESTAMP: Auto CURDATE()
TIMESTAMP: Auto CURTIME()
TIMESTAMP: Auto NOW()
0000
0000
2011
2006
0000
0000
0000
0000
0000
0000
0000
0000
2020-02-14
2006-09-19
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
1776-07-04
2006-09-19
0000-00-00
2006-09-19
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
0000-00-00
2006-09-19
0000-00-00
2006-09-19
00:00:00
00:00:00
00:00:00
00:00:00
04:13:54
00:00:00
00:00:00
16:56:56
00:00:00
00:00:00
00:00:00
00:00:00
00:00:00
00:00:00
00:00:00
00:00:00
00:00:00
00:00:00
00:00:00
00:00:00
00:00:00
00:00:00
00:00:00
16:56:56
Notice that the rows DATETIME: Auto CURTIME(), TIMESTAMP: Manual Timestamp,
and TIMESTAMP: Auto CURTIME() have all zeros. This is because theywere the INSERTs
that were erroneous. When you enter dates that are out of the range or in the wrong format for
a given date type, MySQL willoften just enter in the default value of all zeros.
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MySQL Time - Formats

There are three different types of time data types in MySQL: TIME, DATETIME, and
TIMESTAMP. If you would like to learn more about DATETIME and TIMESTAMP, then
check out our MySQL Date section, as we've covered them there. This lesson will just be
covering the basics of using TIME.
MySQL Time - TIME

First you need to create a MySQL table with a TIME type. We have one already created if
you want to use it: timeplayground.sql.
The TIME data type can be used to store actual times as well as the amount of time
between two points in time (like the time between now and the weekend) that may sometimes
be larger than 23 hours. H - Hour; M - Minute; S - Second.
.:. Standard format: HH:MM:SS
.:. Extended hour format: HHH:MM:SS
.:. Time Range: -838:59:50 to 838:59:59
When manually entering a time into MySQL it is highly recommended that youuse the
exact format show above. MySQL allows for many different ways to entera time, but they
don't always behave as you would expect. Using the standard/extendedformat we have
shown above will help you avoid annoying problems.
Below we have entered 3 manual times into MySQL. The first is done in the
recommendedformat, the second is a shorthand version of the first and the final example
isoutside the allowed time range.
PHP & MySQL Code:
<?php
//This assumes you have already created the 'dateplayground' table
//Connect to DB
$query_manual1 = "INSERT INTO timeplayground (dp_name, dp_time)
VALUES ('TIME: Manual Time', '12:10:00')"; //perfectly done
VALUES ('TIME: Manual Time', '1210')"; // will this shorthand work?
VALUES ('TIME: Manual Time', '978:31:12')"; //how about this?
mysql_query($query_manual1) or die(mysql_error());
?>
MySQL Time - NOW()

To get the current time, use MySQL's built in function NOW(). NOW() containsboth the date and
time information, but MySQL is smart enough to just usethe data needed for TIME.
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PHP & MySQL Code:

<?php
$query_auto = "INSERT INTO timeplayground (dp_name, dp_time)
VALUE ('TIME: Auto NOW()', NOW() )";
?>
MySQL timeplayground.sql Displayed

Below is a small PHP script to spit out a rough version of our timeplayground.sqltable.
PHP & MySQL Code:
<?php
$query = "SELECT * FROM timeplayground";
echo "<table border='1'><tr>";
echo "<th>".mysql_field_name($result, $i)."</th>";
}
echo "</tr>";
echo "<tr>";
echo "<td>". $row[$i] ."</td>";
}
echo "</tr>";
}
echo "</table>";
?>
dp_name
dp_time
TIME:
TIME:
TIME:
TIME:
12:10:00
00:12:10
838:59:59
14:30:36
Manual Time
Manual Time
Manual Time
Auto NOW()
Our first manual time was handled just fine, but our second one did not. MySQL
interpreted 1210 as MM:SS instead of HH:MM as we assumed. This iswhy it's best to use
the formats we've described at the beginning.
The third manual entry was changed from 978:31:12 to 838:59:59, so that it wouldbe
within TIME's range.
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MySQL Index - Overclock Your Tables

Hardware enthusiasts have been overclocking their PCs for years now, trying to push the
limits of their hardware for maximum performance. Sometimes they are successful and their
applications run speedy fast, while other times they pusha little too hard and end up damaging
the computer!
Although it isn't quite as extreme, indexes in MySQL can increase the speed of your
MySQL queries to squeeze a bit more performance out of your database.
MySQL Index - Speed and Extra Overhead

Indexes are created on a per column basis. If you have a table with the columns: name,
age, birthday and employeeID and want to create an index to speed up how long it takes to
find employeeID values in your queries, thenyou would need to create an index for
employeeID. When you create this index, MySQL will build a lookup index where
employeeID specific queries can be run quickly. However, the name, age and birthday
queries would not be any faster.
Indexes are something extra that you can enable on your MySQL tables to increase
performance,cbut they do have some downsides. When you create a new index MySQL
builds a separate block of information that needs to be updated every time there are changes
made to the table. This meansthat if you are constantly updating, inserting and removing
entries in your table this couldhave a negative impact on performance.
Creating a MySQL Index - New Table

If you are creating a new MySQL table you can specify a column to index by using the
INDEX termas we have below. We have created two fields: name and employeeID (index).
MySQL Code:
CREATE TABLE employee_records (
name VARCHAR(50),
employeeID INT, INDEX (employeeID)
)
Creating a MySQL Index - Existing Table

You can also add an index to an older table that you think would benefit from some indexing.The
syntax is very similar to creating an index in a new table. First, let's create the table.
MySQL Code:
CREATE TABLE employee_records2 (name VARCHAR(50), employeeID INT)
With our newly created table we are going to update the "employee_records2" table to include an
index.
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MySQL Code:
CREATE INDEX id_index ON employee_records2(employeeID)
We keep our existing employeeID field and create a new index id_index that is made up of
employeeID data.
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A MySQL Tutorial For Beginners

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A MySQL Tutorial For Beginners

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Contents

PHP / MySQL Tutorial

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PHP / MySQL Tutorial

Why Use a Database?

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MySQL Setup Guide

Setting Up MySQL in CPanel

Helpful Tool - phpMyAdmin!

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MySQL Command Line

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Strategies to Learn MySQL

CAPITALIZATION in MySQL Queries

Learn at Your Own Pace

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Creating Your First Database

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Choosing the Working Database

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PHP & MySQL Code:

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Create Table MySQL

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'mysql_query ("CREATE TABLE example'

'id INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT'

'PRIMARY KEY (id)'

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Inserting Data Into Your Table

'mysql_query("INSERT INTO example'

'(name, age) VALUES('Timmy Mellowman', '23' ) ")'

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is the data to be put into the columns that we justspecified.

Here we enter the name Timmy

Review & Homework

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Retrieving Data With PHP & MySQL

Using MySQL SELECT & FROM

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'$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM example")'

'SELECT * FROM example'

'$row = mysql_fetch_array( $result );'

Continuing the Example

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MySQL Fetch Array

mysql_fetch_array: Why Use It?

Getting a Row of Data using mysql_fetch_array

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out the first MySQL Result row.

Fetch Array While Loop

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PHP and MySQL Code:

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Retrieving Information from MySQL

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'SELECT * FROM example'

'while($row = mysql_fetch_array( $result )'

Practice What You Have Learned

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Being Selective With Your MySQL Selection

MySQL Wildcard Usage '%'

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MySQL Query WHERE With Wildcard

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Sorting a MySQL Query - ORDER BY

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What we need to do is add on to the existing MySQL statement "SELECT * FROM

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MySQL Join Table Setup

MySQL Join Simple Example

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MySQL LEFT JOIN

MySQL LEFT JOIN Explanation