MySQL :: Connectors and APIs Manual :: 7.3.2.3 Executing statements

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7.3.2.3 Executing statements

Statements can be executed with the mysqli_query, mysqli_real_query and mysqli_multi_query functions. The mysqli_query function is the most common, and combines the executing statement with a buffered fetch of its result set, if any, in one call. Calling mysqli_query is identical to calling mysqli_real_query followed by mysqli_store_result.

Example 7.13 Connecting to MySQL

<?php
$mysqli = new mysqli("example.com", "user", "password", "database");
if ($mysqli->connect_errno) {
    echo "Failed to connect to MySQL: (" . $mysqli->connect_errno . ") " . $mysqli->connect_error;
}
if (!$mysqli->query("DROP TABLE IF EXISTS test") ||
    !$mysqli->query("CREATE TABLE test(id INT)") ||
    !$mysqli->query("INSERT INTO test(id) VALUES (1)")) {
    echo "Table creation failed: (" . $mysqli->errno . ") " . $mysqli->error;
}
?>

Buffered result sets

After statement execution results can be retrieved at once to be buffered by the client or by read row by row. Client-side result set buffering allows the server to free resources associated with the statement results as early as possible. Generally speaking, clients are slow consuming result sets. Therefore, it is recommended to use buffered result sets. mysqli_query combines statement execution and result set buffering.

PHP applications can navigate freely through buffered results. Navigation is fast because the result sets are held in client memory. Please, keep in mind that it is often easier to scale by client than it is to scale the server.

Example 7.14 Navigation through buffered results

<?php
$mysqli = new mysqli("example.com", "user", "password", "database");
if ($mysqli->connect_errno) {
    echo "Failed to connect to MySQL: (" . $mysqli->connect_errno . ") " . $mysqli->connect_error;
}
if (!$mysqli->query("DROP TABLE IF EXISTS test") ||
    !$mysqli->query("CREATE TABLE test(id INT)") ||
    !$mysqli->query("INSERT INTO test(id) VALUES (1), (2), (3)")) {
    echo "Table creation failed: (" . $mysqli->errno . ") " . $mysqli->error;
}
$res = $mysqli->query("SELECT id FROM test ORDER BY id ASC");
echo "Reverse order...\n";
for ($row_no = $res->num_rows - 1; $row_no >= 0; $row_no--) {
    $res->data_seek($row_no);
    $row = $res->fetch_assoc();
    echo " id = " . $row['id'] . "\n";
}
echo "Result set order...\n";
$res->data_seek(0);
while ($row = $res->fetch_assoc()) {
    echo " id = " . $row['id'] . "\n";
}
?>

The above example will output:

Reverse order...
 id = 3
 id = 2
 id = 1
Result set order...
 id = 1
 id = 2
 id = 3

Unbuffered result sets

If client memory is a short resource and freeing server resources as early as possible to keep server load low is not needed, unbuffered results can be used. Scrolling through unbuffered results is not possible before all rows have been read.

Example 7.15 Navigation through unbuffered results

<?php
$mysqli->real_query("SELECT id FROM test ORDER BY id ASC");
$res = $mysqli->use_result();
echo "Result set order...\n";
while ($row = $res->fetch_assoc()) {
    echo " id = " . $row['id'] . "\n";
}
?>

Result set values data types

The mysqli_query, mysqli_real_query and mysqli_multi_query functions are used to execute non-prepared statements. At the level of the MySQL Client Server Protocol, the command COM_QUERY and the text protocol are used for statement execution. With the text protocol, the MySQL server converts all data of a result sets into strings before sending. This conversion is done regardless of the SQL result set column data type. The mysql client libraries receive all column values as strings. No further client-side casting is done to convert columns back to their native types. Instead, all values are provided as PHP strings.

Example 7.16 Text protocol returns strings by default

<?php
$mysqli = new mysqli("example.com", "user", "password", "database");
if ($mysqli->connect_errno) {
    echo "Failed to connect to MySQL: (" . $mysqli->connect_errno . ") " . $mysqli->connect_error;
}
if (!$mysqli->query("DROP TABLE IF EXISTS test") ||
    !$mysqli->query("CREATE TABLE test(id INT, label CHAR(1))") ||
    !$mysqli->query("INSERT INTO test(id, label) VALUES (1, 'a')")) {
    echo "Table creation failed: (" . $mysqli->errno . ") " . $mysqli->error;
}
$res = $mysqli->query("SELECT id, label FROM test WHERE id = 1");
$row = $res->fetch_assoc();
printf("id = %s (%s)\n", $row['id'], gettype($row['id']));
printf("label = %s (%s)\n", $row['label'], gettype($row['label']));
?>

The above example will output:

id = 1 (string)
label = a (string)

It is possible to convert integer and float columns back to PHP numbers by setting the MYSQLI_OPT_INT_AND_FLOAT_NATIVE connection option, if using the mysqlnd library. If set, the mysqlnd library will check the result set meta data column types and convert numeric SQL columns to PHP numbers, if the PHP data type value range allows for it. This way, for example, SQL INT columns are returned as integers.

Example 7.17 Native data types with mysqlnd and connection option

<?php
$mysqli = mysqli_init();
$mysqli->options(MYSQLI_OPT_INT_AND_FLOAT_NATIVE, 1);
$mysqli->real_connect("example.com", "user", "password", "database");
if ($mysqli->connect_errno) {
    echo "Failed to connect to MySQL: (" . $mysqli->connect_errno . ") " . $mysqli->connect_error;
}
if (!$mysqli->query("DROP TABLE IF EXISTS test") ||
    !$mysqli->query("CREATE TABLE test(id INT, label CHAR(1))") ||
    !$mysqli->query("INSERT INTO test(id, label) VALUES (1, 'a')")) {
    echo "Table creation failed: (" . $mysqli->errno . ") " . $mysqli->error;
}
$res = $mysqli->query("SELECT id, label FROM test WHERE id = 1");
$row = $res->fetch_assoc();
printf("id = %s (%s)\n", $row['id'], gettype($row['id']));
printf("label = %s (%s)\n", $row['label'], gettype($row['label']));
?>

The above example will output: