Checking whether username exists in MySQLi Database and PHP - php

Question

I have been working on a website which has a xampp server and a database called users with a table called AccountDetails. About a year ago I got it to work perfectly, but the server I was using then required MySQL not MySQLi. Now I have to use MySQLi and can't even get the simplest of sql's SELECT function to work, any ideas would be much appreciated.
<?php
$link = mysqli_connect("localhost:3306", "root","", "users");
if(mysqli_connect_errno($link)){
echo "MySql Error: " . mysqli_connect_error();
} else {
echo"Connection Successful <br></br>";
}
echo("Check if still working <br></br>");
// -----------------------------//
echo("Its running <br></br>");
$result = $link->query("SELECT ID, UserName FROM AccountDetails");
return $result->result();
var_dump($result);
mysqli_close($link);
?>
The Query itself works when I plug it into the phpmyadmin SQL section and it returns the values that I expect it too.
I've spent days looking online for different answers but none of them work, and the var_dump only gives me "bool(false)" which I don't think I should be getting.

Answer 1

You can try this code
<?php
$link = mysqli_connect("localhost:3306", "root","", "users");
if(mysqli_connect_errno($link)){
echo "MySql Error: " . mysqli_connect_error();
} else {
echo"Connection Successful <br></br>";
}
echo("Check if still working <br></br>");
// -----------------------------//
echo("Its running <br></br>");
$sql_select = "SELECT * FROM AccountDetails";
$result = $link->query($sql_select);
if ($result->num_rows > 0) {
while($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) {
echo "UserName: " . $row['UserName']. "<br>";
}
} else {
echo "No Records";
}
$link->close();
?>