foreach loop in php needs debugging - php

Question

While I had no success with php routing since is above my current knowledge I tried the implementation below:
$query = "SELECT * FROM persons WHERE SURNAME LIKE 'Ω%' ORDER BY SURNAME ASC;";
$result = mysqli_query($con, $query); //the selected query has 2 results!
/* determine number of rows result set */
$row_cnt = mysqli_num_rows($result);
printf("results (%d).", $row_cnt);
// Check result
// This shows the actual query sent to MySQL, and the error. Useful for debugging.
if (!$result) {
$message = 'Invalid query: ' . mysqli_error($con) . "\n";
$message .= 'Whole query: ' . $query;
die($message);
}
function generateTableFromResult($result) {
$x = 1;
$html = "<table>";
while($row = mysqli_fetch_array($result)) {
foreach($row as $column => $value) {
copy("persons.php","newfile".$x.".php");
$html.="<tr><th>".$column."</th><td>".$value."</td></tr>";
$myfile = fopen("newfile".$x.".php", "w") or die("Unable to open file!");
fwrite($myfile, $html);
}
$x++;
}
$html .= "</table>";
return $html;
}
// usage:
// ...
$result = mysqli_query($con, $query);
echo generateTableFromResult($result);`
The above script creates:
newfile1.php --> table + table (first + second result)
newfile2.php --> table + table (first + second result)
while I want:
newfile1.php --> table (first result)
newfile2.php --> table (second result)
What am I missing here?
edit:
example content of newfile1.php:
CODE_NO 12101
SURNAME ΩΝΑΣΗ
FIRST_NAME ΧΡΙΣΤΙΝΑ
SOURCE1 ΗΛΙΟΥ
SOURCE2
SOURCE3
PROV ΟΙΚΟΓΕΝΕΙΑΚΗ ΣΧΕΣΗ ΚΑΘΕΤΗ ΜΕ ΚΙΝΗΤΙΚΟΤΗΤΑ
SEX ΓΥΝΑΙΚΑ
BIRTH 1950
DEATH 1989
PLACE ΜΕΓΑΛΟ ΑΣΤΙΚΟ ΚΕΝΤΡΟ
REGION ΑΛΛΕΣ ΞΕΝΕΣ ΧΩΡΕΣ
EDUCATION ΜΕΤΑΠΤΥΧΙΑΚΕΣ ΣΠΟΥΔΕΣ
SPECIAL
WRITING
POLITICAL
MANAGERIAL
MILITARY
RELIGIOUS
SPIRITUAL
SCIENTIFIC
NOBLE ΝΑΙ
CULTURAL
FINANCIAL ΝΑΙ
CONSTITUTIONAL
OPPOSITION
PROF1 Επιχειρηματίας
PROF2 Νεώτερη αριστοκρατική ελίτ πλουτου
PROF3
PROF4
PROF5
PARTY
ACTIVITY1
ACTIVITY2
1800_1832
1833_1862
1863_1911
1912_1922
1923_1944
1945_1973 ΝΑΙ
1974_ ΝΑΙ
HIERARCHY Ανωτάτη Ελίτ
LEADERSHIP
HERE starts table 2 This is what tables look like. Remember I want each table to be written per person/file.
CODE_NO 12100
SURNAME ΩΝΑΣΗΣ
FIRST_NAME ΑΡΙΣΤΟΤΕΛΗΣ
SOURCE1 ΗΛΙΟΥ
SOURCE2 ΔΡΑΝΔΑΚΗ
SOURCE3 ΕΚΔΟΤΙΚΗ
PROV ΑΓΝΩΣΤΗ
SEX ΑΝΔΡΑΣ
BIRTH 1906
DEATH 1975
PLACE ΑΓΡΟΤΙΚΕΣ- ΝΗΣΙΩΤΙΚΕΣ
REGION ΜΙΚΡΑ ΑΣΙΑ
EDUCATION ΔΕΝ ΔΗΛΩΝΕΙ
SPECIAL
WRITING
POLITICAL
MANAGERIAL
MILITARY
RELIGIOUS
SPIRITUAL
SCIENTIFIC
NOBLE ΝΑΙ
CULTURAL
FINANCIAL ΝΑΙ
CONSTITUTIONAL
OPPOSITION
PROF1 Εφοπλιστής
PROF2 Νεώτερη αριστοκρατική ελίτ πλουτου
PROF3
PROF4
PROF5
PARTY
ACTIVITY1
ACTIVITY2
1800_1832
1833_1862
1863_1911
1912_1922
1923_1944 ΝΑΙ
1945_1973 ΝΑΙ
1974_
HIERARCHY Yψιστη Μορφή Ελίτ
LEADERSHIP

Answer 1

This should produce the output you want (from your comments):
function generateTableFromResult($result) {
$x = 1;
$html = '';
while($row = mysqli_fetch_array($result, MYSQLI_ASSOC)) {
// Add the open-table tag
$html = '<table>';
// Iterate through the columns and add them to our variable
foreach($row as $column => $value) {
$html .= "<tr><th>".$column."</th><td>".$value."</td></tr>";
}
// Add the close-table tag
$html .= "</table>";
// Now, since we've added all the rows for that person,
// create, populate and store the file
file_put_contents("newfile".$x.".php", $html);
// Increment $x before we jump to the next person
$x++;
}
// However, this will only return the table for the last person
return $html;
}
I also changed your fopen and copy (which didn't really make sense) to one simple command: file_put_contents()
A big shout out to #ishegg that helped narrow down the issue

Answer 2

By default, the fetch mode for mysqli_fetch_array() is MYSQLI_BOTH, which means it's getting each result in associative and numeric form. That, in addition to your double-looping over the results, gives you the results you're getting.
To fix it, you can use MYSQLI_ASSOC (or use mysqli_fetch_assoc()), so it only gets each row once.
function generateTableFromResult($result) {
$x = 1;
$html = "<table>";
while($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
foreach($row as $column => $value) {
copy("persons.php","newfile".$x.".php");
$html.="<tr><th>".$column."</th><td>".$value."</td></tr>";
$myfile = fopen("newfile".$x.".php", "w") or die("Unable to open file!");
fwrite($myfile, $html);
}
$x++;
}
$html.="</table>";
return $html;
}
Or, keeping your original function:
function generateTableFromResult($result) {
$x = 1;
$html = "<table>";
while($row = mysqli_fetch_array($result, MYSQLI_ASSOC)) {
foreach($row as $column => $value) {
copy("persons.php","newfile".$x.".php");
$html.="<tr><th>".$column."</th><td>".$value."</td></tr>";
$myfile = fopen("newfile".$x.".php", "w") or die("Unable to open file!");
fwrite($myfile, $html);
}
$x++;
}
$html.="</table>";
return $html;
}
Also, as #MagnusEriksson points out, you're appending the content to $html each time, so you will still get both results in the second file. To avoid this, put $html = "table"; inside the foreach loop:
function generateTableFromResult($result) {
$x = 1;
while($row = mysqli_fetch_array($result, MYSQLI_ASSOC)) {
foreach($row as $column => $value) {
copy("persons.php","newfile".$x.".php");
$html = "<table>";
$html.="<tr><th>".$column."</th><td>".$value."</td></tr>";
$html.="</table>";
$myfile = fopen("newfile".$x.".php", "w") or die("Unable to open file!");
fwrite($myfile, $html);
}
$x++;
}
return $html;
}