MySQL in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition

Name

mysql_field_seek()

Synopsis

MYSQL_FIELD_OFFSET mysql_field_seek(MYSQL_RES *result, 
                                    MYSQL_FIELD_OFFSET offset)

Use this function in conjunction with mysql_fetch_field() to change the current field being fetched to the one specified in the second argument of this function. The function returns the offset of the field that was current before the function was invoked. A reference to the results set must be passed as the first argument. Here is an example:

...
mysql_query(mysql, sql_stmnt);
MYSQL_FIELD_OFFSET offset = 2;
mysql_field_seek(result, offset);
while((field = mysql_fetch_field(result)) != NULL)
   {
    printf("%d: %s \n", mysql_field_tell(result), field->name);
   }
...

Using mysql_field_seek() here and an offset of 2, the first two rows of the results set are skipped. The mysql_field_tell() function is used to ascertain the index of the field being displayed within each loop of the while statement. The mysql_field_seek() function will return the offset prior to invoking the function. If you change the mysql_field_seek() call in the program to the following, the old_offset variable would contain a value of 0, the starting point for a row:

...
MYSQL_FIELD_OFFSET old_offset = mysql_field_seek(result, offset);
...

You can use this for recording a point in a results set before moving the pointer. The program can later return to that point using the old offset.