Need some really basic help

[nscherneck]

Hey guys,

 

Im a noob so go easy.  I am trying to learn the basics of using PHP to work with MySQL.  I have created a database on my hosting account and want to connect to my database via PHP and echo something that shows that ive successfully connected. 

 

Once i establish that what do you guys suggest i learn to do?  I was thinking of making a form to insert records into the database then displaying data on another page using loops or something. 

 

Thanks!

[matthewhaworth]

$db = new mysqli("LOCALHOST", "USERNAME", "PASSWORD", "DATABASE");
if(!$db) {
   echo 'Connection failed';
} else {
   echo 'Connection successful';
}

 

 

[nscherneck]

this is what i get when i tried....

 

Fatal error: Class 'mysqli' not found in /home/safewaye/public_html/nathan/page2.php on line 102

[matthewhaworth]

It's new to php5.. let's go back to the old style cos it's looking like you don't have php5 installed or the mysqli class.

 

$connection = mysql_connect("localhost","username","password");
if(!$connection) {
  echo 'mySQL connection failed';
} else {
  echo 'mySQL connection successful';
  $db = mysql_select_db("DatabaseName", $connection
  if(!$db) {
     echo 'connection to database failed.';
  } else {
     echo 'connection to database successful';
}

[nscherneck]

excellent, i made that one work.  my host is using PHP 5.1.4.  Any suggestions or tutorials to do now that ive got my connection?  thank you! 

[nscherneck]

im having another problem.  i have created a table within my database and inserted a record.  i have three columns, one being a primary key.  so i am querying the database like so...

 

$connection = mysql_connect("localhost","safewaye_nathan","daniel");

if(!$connection) {

  echo "<br />mySQL connection failed.";

} else {

  echo "<br />mySQL connection successful.";

  $db = mysql_select_db("safewaye_nathan_test", $connection);

  if(!$db) {

    echo "<br />connection to database failed.";

  } else {

    echo "<br />connection to database successful.";

}

}

 

$select = "SELECT * FROM Employees order by name";

$data = mysql_query($select, $connection) or die(mysql_error());

echo "<br />" . $data;

 

the result i get is....

 

Resource id #4

 

this isnt my one record, and it isnt echoing three columns.  what am i doing wrong?

[The Little Guy]

This may help you out:

 

db.php

<?php
$dbHost = "localhost";        //Location Of Database usually its localhost
$dbUser = "xxxx";            //Database User Name
$dbPass = "xxxx";            //Database Password
$dbDatabase = "xxxx";       //Database Name

$db = mysql_connect("$dbHost", "$dbUser", "$dbPass") or die ("Error connecting to database.");
mysql_select_db("$dbDatabase", $db) or die ("Couldn't select the database.");
?>

 

index.php

<?php
include 'db.php';
if(!isset($_POST['submit'])){
   $firstName = addslashes($_POST['first_name']);
   mysql_query("insert INTO names (`firstName`) VALUES ('$firstName')")or die(mysql_query());
   unset($firstName);
   unset($_POST['submit']);
}
$sql = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM names");
echo '<h1>Inserted Names</h1>';
while($row = mysql_fetch_array($sql)){
   echo '<p>'.stripslashes($row['firstName']).'</p>';
}
?>

<form action="<?php echo $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']; ?>" method="post">
First name: <input type="text" name="first_name"> <input type="submit" name="submit" value="Insert">
</form>