Storing database results to a variable in PHP - php

Question

I am trying to store the result from a MySQL statement for later use in PHP. I have this code which gets me the result:
// Get the categories from the db.
$categories = array();
$catSql = "SELECT id, name FROM categories";
if ($catStmt = mysqli_prepare($db, $catSql))
{
$catStmt->execute();
$result = $catStmt->get_result();
// Fetch the result variables.
while ($row = $result->fetch_assoc())
{
// Store the results for later use.
}
}
So I know i will have the results in $row["id"] and $row["name"] and I want to save all of the rows so whenever i need them i can loop through them and for example echo them. I have searched for structures and arrays for keeping them in PHP but I cannot seem to find any information about that or maybe I am not searching in the right direction. Can anyone point me where i should read about this to find out how to do this efficiently and if possible post a small example?

Answer 1

Use sessions:
if (session_status() == PHP_SESSION_NONE) {
session_start();
}
// Get the categories from the db.
$categories = array();
$catSql = "SELECT id, name FROM categories";
if ($catStmt = mysqli_prepare($db, $catSql))
{
$catStmt->execute();
$result = $catStmt->get_result();
// Fetch the result variables.
while ($row = $result->fetch_assoc())
{
// Store the results for later use.
$_SESSION['category_' . $row['id']] = $row['name'];
}
}
Then access it later from a different page
$_SESSION['session_variable_name']
You can also create an array of the information and store the entire array in a single session variable.
Just make sure you add the session_start function at the beginning of each page. The if statement prevents you from trying to start it multiple times.

Answer 2

$categories = array();
$catSql = "SELECT id, name FROM categories";
if ($catStmt = mysqli_prepare($db, $catSql))
{
$catStmt->execute();
$result = $catStmt->get_result();
while ($row = $result->fetch_assoc())
{
$categories[$row['id']]=$row['name'];
}
}
And If you want the name anywhere use below :
$categories[$id]