Save SQL data to PHP file - php

Question

I've faced a problem that I can't solve. Thing I want to do, to "save" all output SQL data to file (which should renew at timed interval ex. 5 mins) and print the file out on the website.
This is my example script, which shows data... but it makes connection each time web is loaded.
<?php
mysql_connect($dbserver, $dblogin, $dbpass);
mysql_select_db($dbname);
mysql_query("SET NAMES 'utf8'");
$rektanrekt = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM characters WHERE (accesslevel < '1') order by pkkills desc LIMIT 10");
$i = 1;
echo '<table id="top_table"><tr id="table_title"><td></td><td> </td><td>Nick</td><td></td><td>Kills</td></tr>';
while($row = mysql_fetch_array($rektanrekt))
{
echo '<tr><td id="skaiciai">' . $i . '.</td><td></td><td id="nickas"><font>';
echo $row["char_name"];
echo '</font></td><td> </td><td id="kills"><font>';
echo $row["pkkills"];
echo '</font></td></tr>';
$i++;
}
echo '</table>';
?>
And it does the job done -> http://prntscr.com/a3hpmx
But is it possible to make "backup" of this file, and show it if SQL is offline ... or even better - if SQL is ON update the file each time interval, if SQL is OFF just show latest one?

Answer 1

Saving output data to file:
The simplest way is to output the results in a text file using code similar to the following:
$timeStamp = time();
$pathName = "/gameLog/".$timeStamp.".txt";
$myFile = fopen($pathName, "w");
//+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
/*here you place your previous code, and inside the while
loop you use the fwrite() function to include the information
you want to save. For example:
fwrite($myFile, ($info."\n"));
where $info is the data you want to include in the file, and
"\n" is the line break.
*/
//+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
fclose($myFile);
Note: I used $timeStamp = time(); as the name of the file you are saving with the information you wanted because it will consistently generate a new value, hence you won't be overwriting your log files. Also it can help track at what time this log was saved. You could make this cleaner of course.
Doing this in intervals:
As jeroen mentioned, a cron job is probably your best solution to doing so. If you are using CPanel (linux), when you go to the CPanel homepage of your webhosting account (I am assuming your have an account with godaddy or another provider), there should be an option called "Cron Jobs" or something similar. What a Cron Job does is that it is a "Scheduled Event" that is told to execute some file in an interval you specify (you also specify the directory of your file). I found an example on youtube for you, however the video is a bit out of date, though the process should be similar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmBjg1nD5yA
Edited: I noticed you are working on L2Aria, if you need any help, let me know! :)