Select the most recent 5 rows based on date - php

Question

I haven't touched PHP in a while and trying to select the 5 most recent entries in my database and print them to screen.
I see mysql command isn't recommended anymore and to use PDO->mysql instead.
My query is something like this:
SELECT id,title,date,author FROM table ORDER BY date DESC LIMIT 5;
I'm assuming I would have to put the values into an array and create a loop and output the results.
<?php
$db = new PDO('mysql:dbhost='.$dbhost.';dbname='.$dbname, $user, $pass);
while () {
print($title[$i], $date[$i], $author[$i]);
$i++
}
$db = null;
?>
I'm stuck filling in the gaps with the above code.
Update: The $db = new PDO.... line is reporting an error message:
PHP Fatal error: Uncaught exception 'PDOException' with message 'SQLSTATE[HY000] Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket... in /var/...
PDO is confirmed to be installed and enabled. My other web apps on the server can connect to the same remote mysql server fine.

Answer 1

<?php
$host = 'localhost'; $db = 'db-name'; $user = 'db-user'; $pw = 'db-password';
$conn = new PDO('mysql:host='.$host.';dbname='.$db.';charset=utf8', $user, $pw);
$conn->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);
?>
<?php
$sql = "SELECT id,title,date,author FROM table ORDER BY date DESC LIMIT 5";
$query = $conn->prepare($sql);
$query->execute();
$row = $query->fetch(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
$totalRows = $query->rowCount();
?>
<?php do {
// print your results here ex: next line
echo 'Title: '.$row['title'].' Date: '.$row['date'].' Author: '.$row['author'].'<br>';
} while ($row = $query->fetch(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC)); ?>
Don't forget to close and release resources
<?php $query->closeCursor(); ?>
EDIT
I recommend not echoing error messages once you have confirmed your code functions as expected; however if you want to simply use plain text you can do this...
You can add this to your connection block...
if ($conn->connect_error) {
die("Database Connection Failed");
exit;
}
You can also change your query block...
try {
$sql = "SELECT id,title,date,author FROM table ORDER BY date DESC LIMIT 5";
$query = $conn->prepare($sql);
$query->execute();
$row = $query->fetch(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
$totalRows = $query->rowCount();
} catch (PDOException $e) {
die("Could not get the data you requested");
exit;
}
Again, it is recommended that errors not be echoed. Use error checking only for debugging.

Answer 2

<?php
$db = PDO('mysql:dbhost=$dbhost;dbname=$dbname', $user, $pass);
$sth = $db->prepare("SELECT id,title,date,author FROM table ORDER BY date LIMIT 5");
$sth->execute();
$result = $sth->fetch(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
print_r($result);
?>
in a loop:
while($row = $sth->fetch()) {
echo $row['column'];
}
From the documentation: http://php.net/manual/en/pdostatement.fetch.php