Check if MySQL Column is empty - php

Question

I'm working on a page, where users post their betting picks. In MySQL I have the table bets (id, event, pick, odds, stake, analysis, status, profit).
I would like to check if 'status' is empty in MySQL, but the if() statement is not working. If it's empty, it should output all the bets from a user. The code posted is in a for loop.
So what is wrong with the if() statement? And is there any better way to do this?
$result = queryMysql("SELECT * FROM bets WHERE user='$user'");
$row = mysqli_fetch_array($result);
if ('' !== $row['status']) {
echo "Status: " . $status . "</div>" .
"Published by: " . $user . "<br>" .
"PICK: " . $pick . "<br>" .
"Odds: " . $odds . "<br>" .
"Stake: " . $stake . "<br>" .
nl2br($analysis) ;
}

Answer 1

You are using identical comparison, which would check for type & value both. === or !== as this involves comparing the type as well as the value.
Instead try -
if (!empty($row['status'])) { // assuming status would hold only strings (not false/0 etc)
Or
if ($row['status'] != '') {

Answer 2

Use mysqli_num_rows(). If its greater then 0 then we can say that query containing result so we can further proceed.
$result = queryMysql("SELECT * FROM bets WHERE user='$user'");
if(mysqli_num_rows($result) > 0)
{
$row = mysqli_fetch_array($result);
if ($row['status'] != "") {
echo "Status: " . $status . "</div>" .
"Published by: " . $user . "<br>" .
"PICK: " . $pick . "<br>" .
"Odds: " . $odds . "<br>" .
"Stake: " . $stake . "<br>" .
nl2br($analysis) ;
}
}
For status check you can use any of below method
if ($row['status'] != "") { }
OR
if (!empty($row['status'])) { }

Answer 3

If it's empty, it should output all the bets from a user. The code posted is in a for loop.
Since you are checking if it's empty, your if statement should be the other way round:
if ($row['status'] == '') {
Alternatively, you can use mysqli_num_rows() get the number of rows:
Returns the number of rows in the result set.
$result = queryMysql("SELECT * FROM bets WHERE user='$user'");
if (mysqli_num_rows($result) > 0) {
$row = mysqli_fetch_array($result);
echo "Status: " . $status . "</div>" .
"Published by: " . $user . "<br>" .
"PICK: " . $pick . "<br>" .
"Odds: " . $odds . "<br>" .
"Stake: " . $stake . "<br>" .
nl2br($analysis) ;
}
Also, there isn't such function called queryMysql():
$result = queryMysql("SELECT * FROM bets WHERE user='$user'");
It should be mysqli_query(). For mysqli_query(), the connection parameter is needed.
$result = mysqli_query($conn, "SELECT * FROM bets WHERE user='$user'");