How do I create an if statement that checks a certain database table?

[bobleny]

How do I create an if statement that checks a certain database table? Something like this lets say,

[code]
<?php

mysql_connect('db4.awardspace.com:3306',$username,$password);
@mysql_select_db($database) or die( "Unable to select database");
$query="SELECT * FROM email";
$result=mysql_query($query);

$num=mysql_numrows($result);

mysql_close();

if(!$result)
{
echo "(Inbox Empty) <br />";
}
else
{
echo "<center><u>-- Inbox --</u></center><br><br>";

$i=0;
while ($i < $num) {

$email=mysql_result($result,$i,"email");
$subject=mysql_result($result,$i,"subject");
$message=nl2br(mysql_result($result,$i,"message"));
$time=mysql_result($result,$i,"time");
$id=mysql_result($result,$i,"id");
}
?>
[/code]

[fenway]

You can run "SHOW TABLES LIKE '<yourTable>' ", and then see if you get back results.

[bobleny]

I’m afraid that I don’t quite understand...

Could you explain in further detail?

[fenway]

I'm not sure how to elaborate... show tables will return a list of all tables in the current DB. You can request just a specific table, so if that table is found, you'll get back one row, otherwise, you won't. That's easy to check.