Insert And Extract/Fetch Data From Database: PHP Script

What to expect ?
Using PHP script insert user entered data/information into database and extract/fetch data stored in database and display it on the browser.
This video tutorial also teaches the MySQL queries.

In this video tutorial we have used a readymade form which uses POST method to pass the user entered information. To watch the coding/designing of this form go to POST Method In Action: Simple Form

Video Tutorial: Insert And Extract/Fetch Data From Database: PHP Script

MySQL Commands and Uses

mysql > drop database abc;

This command will delete the database by name abc, if its already present.

mysql > create database abc;

This MySQL command creates a new database by name abc.

mysql > use abc;

After creating the database abc, we must tell the console that we want to operate on the newly created database. i.e., use abc;

mysql > create table bbc(name varchar(15), company varchar(20));

This MySQL command is used to create a table by name bbc with two string type data fields name and company with character length of 15 and 20 respectively.

mysql > desc bbc;

This shows the description or the structure of the table.

mysql > select * from bbc;

This returns all the contents stored in the table bbc.

PHP Script

Connecting the PHP Script to database

mysql_connect() is a standard function which takes 3 parameters. First parameter is host name, second parameter is the MySQL username, and the 3rd parameter is the MySQL password.
mysql_select_db() is also a php standard function. Firs parameter is the database name, with which you want the script to be connected to, and the second parameter is optional.
NOTE: We can put this database connection code inside a separate file and include it inside whichever script we want using include(); or include_once(); function. This way we can reduce the coding and this helps a lot while we are editing this information.

Compete Source Code

postform.php

This is a simple form which contains 2 input fields(user and comp) and a submit button. It uses POST method to pass the user submitted information/data.

post.php

 And I'm the CEO of my company {$company}"

    $sql     = "INSERT into bbc values('$name','$company')";
    $qury  = mysql_query($sql);

    if(!$qury)
        echo mysql_error();
    else
    {
        echo "Successfully Inserted";
        echo "View Result";
    }
?>

After storing the information passed by the user inside $name and $company variables, we use the MySQL query to store this data into the database.

   $sql     = "INSERT into bbc values('$name','$company')";

This MySQL query is stored into $sql variable and is passed to a standard PHP function for execution. i.e., mysql_query($sql);
Based on the result of the execution of the query, we show the proper messages using if statement.

mysql_error() is a standard PHP error function. This helps a lot in development stage, as it shows a descriptive error message. It is not advised to have this error function in the script at deployment stage.

show.php
If the query is executed successfully, a link to show.php file is shown and a “Successfully Inserted” message will be displayed on the browser.

";
    $sql = "select * from bbc";

    $qury = mysql_query($sql);

    while($row = mysql_fetch_array($qury))
        echo "

We have already explained the select query above.

$row = mysql_fetch_array($qury)

This PHP function gets all the result stored in $query and stores it inside $row variable in the form of an array.

If we put this above statement inside a While loop, the loop terminates once there are no more elements in the $query variable.

Now, echo/print the contents of the $row variable to get the contents being fetched by the database using SELECT query.

We can either use the indexing like: $row[0], $row[1] etc or we can directly mention the database field names to reduce confusion i.e., $row[name], $row[company] etc.