PHP Functions Essential Reference

How the MySQL Functions Work

Using MySQL from within PHP is a fairly simple business. The general flow of usage is as follows:

1. Connect to a database server.

2. Select the database with which you want to work.

3. Query tables within the selected database.

Note:

Successful queries don’t return the results of the query directly—instead, they return a result handle. Other functions such as mysql_result() and mysql_fetch_row() use the result handle to retrieve the data.

4. Retrieve the query results.

5. Disconnect from the database server. (This step is optional; PHP manages MySQL connections automatically, closing them as needed.)

The following script illustrates this flow:

 <pre> <?php // Attempt to connect to the default database server // An ID that refers ...