mysqli: connection and queries and efficiency - php

I'm a fairly new php programmer. I've been learning for several weeks and over those weeks i've tinkered from hello world scripts to taking other scripts online and installing them and modifying them. Now i'm writing my own and in the course of writing it, I had a bit of an epiphany.. because the scripts ive been modifying and toying with were done a certain way so i started that way as well. But now im thinking it could be inefficient coding or my idea is just wrong for some reason however..
my script is say index.php it's an interactive site and has users. i have 4 different databases that store some form of data. the first database is focused on users and their data. the second on something else, and so on.
The way I have been writing it is that anytime i need to do a query to the database, at the beginning of the script i have my database connection variables all defined such as
$servername = "127.0.0.1";
$dbusername = "dbusername";
$dbpassword = "passwordhere";
$dbname = "database1";
$roomdb = "database2";
etc
etc
so at all sorts of different points in my script there are needs to run database queries so i've been opening a connection like so
$link = mysqli_connect("$servername", "$dbusername", "$dbpassword", "$roomdb");
then running the query
then closing the database connection.
But then i was having a shower and thought suddenly.. why can't i just at the top of my script where i define the database connection info, just open ONE connection to each of the databases. then run the entire script, and just use queries where i need to use them.. and just name the queries differently if i need to have multiple queries to one database. like $query1 , $query2 etc where a query would be like
$query = "INSERT INTO `$room` (room, message, color) VALUES ('$room', '$randomvariable', '$randomvariable')";
does this make sense? it just seems to me that if i almost assuredly have to make multiple connections to each of these databases each time the script is run, and even if theres a chance i dont need one of the connections once in a while, that it would be more efficient to just connect it once at the beginning, have it available then use unique query names for each different query, and then close the connections at the end of the script?
any insights as to why i might be wrong or why it might be better to open the full connection right where you need it then close it again would be appreciated. i want to know how it functions best so i can make the best coding practice as possible....
but lets pretend i even have one database. the same logic applies. is it more efficient to just open one db connection at the top of my script, keep it open the whole run of the script and just use different $querynames to execute queries to the same db rather than open it, run query, close it, and do that 10 different times for all the queries. it seems pointless to me to open and close the connection so many times and adding overhead. did the examples i learn from just code bad or is there a reason for that

We need to save each connection handler in different variable
$link1 = mysqli_connect("$servername", "$dbusername", "$dbpassword", "$roomdb");
$link2 = mysqli_connect("$servername", "$dbusername", "$dbpassword", "$dbname");
Then use the $link_identifier separately for each, so that we know what are connecting to
mysqli_query($link1,"INSERT INTO `$room` (room, message, color) VALUES ('$room', '$randomvariable', '$randomvariable'");
mysqli_close($link1);
Note : Opening a connection for too long is not good coding standard. We would only connect when we are needed to query anything in that database, and close the connection immediately after the transaction is over.

Related

PHP/MYSQL - Multiple connections to the same database?

I have two files:
config.php:
$con = mysqli_connect("$dbhost","$dbuser","$dbpass","$dbname");
ads.php (config.php require_once):
$query1 = mysqli_query($con,"SELECT * From XXXX where id = 'XXXX'");
$query2 = mysqli_query($con,"SELECT * FROM XXXX2 WHERE id = 'XXXX2'");
I have more than 40 different queries mysqli_query() using $con. Please keep in mind that all my logic is procedural style, not object oriented.
My two questions are:
am I connecting to the DB using a different connection on every query? Or just once when the first one is executed? Is there a better way to do this?
I understand that it is not mandatory to close a mysql connection since it closes itself, however since we have millions of consults sometimes a few can hang and stay for more than 10 seconds after the user left the PHP file. If I wanted to close a connection, should I put mysqli_close($con) at the end of the file (after the 40 consults) or at the end of each consult (40 times)?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
You are reusing the connection initiated in mysqli_connect.
A better way could be to use or create a DataHandler and implement PDOs. It could allow you to perform timing analytics on queries, automate binding parameters, destroy the connection once its finished with etc.
Call mysqli_close($con) at the end of the file. Also null $con to mark for garbage collection.
Once finished with the information from each step you could also call;
mysqli_free_result($query1) to free memory associated to the statement handle

mysql connection design and concurrent connections

My application will be hosted in a shared hosting provider with a limit of 25 Mysql concurrent connections. Below is my code for connecting to DB
function dbConnect() {
$dbHost = 'localhost';
$dbUser = 'user';
$dbPass = 'pass';
$dbName = 'dbase';
mysql_connect($dbHost, $dbUser, $dbPass)or die(mysql_error());
mysql_select_db($dbName) or die(mysql_error());
}
My application is more on database query. The home page alone has atleast 20 mysq_query in it. The way I code my home page is like below
include 'config.php';
dbConnect();
query1 ... //to get initial variables
process variables that result in multiple query
query2... // process result
query3...// process result
and so on up to....
query 20...// process result
I cant minimize the query anymore coz most of the query is prerequisite of the other query. I am expecting of at least 1000 users daily, and the possibility of 50% of the users will connect on the same time or at lest seconds apart.
On the design of connecting to DB will I easily reach the connection limit set?
Is php closing the connection right after the query, meaning it closes after the first query, then open on the second and closes again right after, and so on and son, even if I'm not closing the connection myself
Is my assumption correct that the above scenario automatically consumed 20 concurrent connections?
Thanks in advance.
For what it's worth, some answers to questions 2. and 3. of genpet's original post:
PHP closes your connection to MySQL if and only if (assuming it wasn't openned with mysql_pconnect()):
you call mysql_close()
you reach the end of the script
Therefore, if you send 20 queries during the same script, you only consume 1 connection
One thought just comes to my mind. Consider this pattern:
open/poll a connection with *_pconnect()
run a query, deal with the results
release the connection ASAP with *_close()
open/poll again if you need to query the DB later in the script
This way, I believe one could work around the low concurrent connections limit (even though I agree with people advising your hosting plan may be inappropriate to fulfill your needs)
This is theory, though, I haven't tried that in the real.
It won't let me post this as an comment above, so this isn't an answer, but an extension of my first comment ("upgrade your hosting plan")
IMO, your connection design is not ok. "die" is a terminal function, if you're expecting failure, then build in a retry option and a user friendly error handling function. Also, opening and closing the DB each time is time intensive, you might be able to squeeze three queries faster than closing down and opening again for one (but that depends on several factors, which can be mitigated worth shared pools add suggested by others.) But my advice is upgrade hosting plan and develop "normally". Then your style is ok, except use a friendlier error screen than "die" :-) as well as pdo or mysqli, not mysql_ functions

PHP & PDO: One Connection vs More-than-one Connections

In my PHP program I need to hit the database between 0 and 3 times on any given webpage request. I am using PDO to interact with MySQL. First I create a database connection using something like this:
$dbh = new PDO("mysql:host=$hostname;dbname=animals", $username, $password);
Then I do what I need to do and close the connection like this:
$dbh = null;
I open and close a connection 0-3 times right now, the same number of times I need to interact with MySQL.
My question is, should I be re-using this connection instead? My queries are not one after another, they are scattered throughout my program and I don't really think it would be easy to run them one right after another.
So is it better to create a new database connection and close it for each interaction (query) or to just leave the connection open and reuse it? Does it make any difference?
Thanks!
For a typical website page, you should be reusing the same connection for all queries.
It's not worth it to spend time disconnecting and reconnecting.
Unless your pages take a huge amount of time to run (huge being relative), then there's no point in relinquishing a connection. You'll end up wasting more cycles on connectiong/disconnecting than you do actually executing queries. MySQL's pretty lightweight as far as connections go, but it still adds up.
The site says: "You must have 50 reputations to comment". My reputation is pretty bad so I can't leave a comment, but I want to add a notice on:
For a typical website page, you should be reusing the same connection
for all queries.
Absolutely right, but in case of need atypical script (e.g. compare tables between a remote database and local database) one can't use the same connection. Must close first connection and establish new one or have 2 separate connections (using different names) at the same time.
I prefer the second option in this case because of closing connection using "$dbh = null;" it can be a bit difficult in some cases. (PDO closing connection)
Here is explanation [from documentation: https://www.php.net/manual/en/pdo.connections.php ] why should be careful with "$dbh = null;" (it should be closed all instances too):
<?php
$dbh = new PDO('mysql:host=localhost;dbname=test', $user, $pass);
// use the connection here
$sth = $dbh->query('SELECT * FROM foo');
// and now we're done; close it
$sth = null;
$dbh = null;
?>
So, only $dbh = null; (without nullifying instances) is not a good idea.

The best efficient method to connect MySQL from PHP?

It is very common that using PHP to connect MySQL. The most common method is like this:
$sqlcon=mysql_connect("localhost","user","pw");
mysql_select_db('database');
$sqlcomm=mysql_query("SELECT id FROM bd");
while($row=mysql_fetch_row($sqlcomm))
{
//do something
}
mysql_close($sqlcon);
I think this is the fastest direct way to connect MySQL. But in project, there will have too many MySQL connections in php script, we should use "mysql_connect("localhost","user","pw")" code to connect MySQL in every php script. So you will like to build a MySQL class or function in a file to connect MySQL:
function connect( $query )
{
$sqlcon=mysql_connect("localhost","user","pw");
mysql_select_db('database');
$sqlcomm=mysql_query($query);
while($row=mysql_fetch_row($sqlcomm))
{
//do something.
}
mysql_close($sqlcon);
}
and then include into your project using include() for connection.
include('connect.php');
$data = connect('SELECT id from db');
OK, in this way, the code is look better. But using include() function will let PHP to read and execute other php script files, a I/O operation on harddisk again, it will also slow down the performance.
If the webpage is 100PV/s, php will read and execute a one php script 100 times/s in first method, but read and execute php script 200 times/s in this method!
I here show a simple example for only one query. Try image a high network multi-query environment.
Dose any one have other better way to make MySQL connection more easier and more efficient?
You don't really need to open that many connections. You just open 1 connection at the start of your script (before <body> gets generated, let's say), and then close it at the end of your script (after </body> is generated, let's say). That leaves you with only 1 connection. In between, you can execute as many queries as you need.
Have you looked at using PDO? it does connection pooling and what not andnot limited to mysql...
Have a look at Dibi.
You use a class that opens a MySQL connection (username / password / db is inherited from some sort of configuration file) and when you query the db - it establishes a connection.
That leads you on to using a framework that uses certain programing paradigms and so forth.
Also, you shouldn't worry about performance decrease because you're including a file. That should be the least of your worries. OS is doing many IOs, not just with the hard disk, your 1 file include won't be noticeable.
If you're asking whether there's more efficient way of connecting to a MySQL db without using mysql_, mysqli_, odbc or PDO - no, there isn't.
performance lack would be insignificant. you must be concerned more about correct approach to the structure of your code than performance.
you can move your host/user/password into constants into separate files and include wherever you need them, more over you can use some design patterns for database object. like Singleton or Factory. they will provide more flexibility to your system.
But in project, there are too many MySQL connections, we should type Username and Password code each time
There are lots of things wrong with this statement - even if you don't count the grammar.
If you mean that you have multiple servers with different datasets on them, then you should definitely consider consolidating them or using the federated engine to provide a single point of access.
Opening a new connection and closing it each time you run a query is very inneficient if you need to execute more than one query per script.
Realy you need to spend a lot of time thinking about why you need multiple database connections and eliminate them, but in the meantime, bearing in mind that connections are closed automatically when a script finishes.....
class connection_pool {
var $conxns=array(
'db1.example.com'=>
array ('host'=>'db1.example.com', 'user'=>'fred', 'password'=>'secret'),
'db2.example.com'=>
array ('host'=>'db1.example.com', 'user'=>'admin', 'password'=>'xxx4'),
....
);
function get_handle($db)
{
if (!array_key_exists($db, $this->conxns)) {
return false;
}
if (!#is_resource($this->conxns[$db]['handle'])) {
$this->conxns[$db]['handle']=mysql_connect(
$this->conxns[$db]['host'],
$this->conxns[$db]['user'],
$this->conxns[$db]['password']
);
}
return $this->conxns[$db]['handle'];
}
}
(NB never use 'USE database' if you have multiple databases on a single mysql instance - always explicitly state the database name in queries)

proper way to solve mysql max user connection error

I'm using PHP with MYSQL database as both are open source and easy to use.
I'm getting problem when I execute insert and/or update of millions of row one after another
while this operation perform I got the MYSQL error that:
'max_user_connections' active connections
which is the best way to solve this problem.
I don't want to use another database or language other then PHP.
connect_db();
$query = "insert into table(mobno,status,description,date,send_deltime,sms_id,msg,send_type) values('".$to."','".$status."','".$report."','','".$timewsha1."','".$smsID."','','".$type."')";
$result = mysql_query($query) or ("Query failed : " . mysql_error());
this query will execute thousand of times.
and then server give connection error.
First of all, try to know from your hosting server administrator about the max consecutive active connections available to the MySQL database. This is the most basic & primary information to have knowledge about.
If your page(s) load in a decent amount of time and release the connection once the page is loaded, it should be fine. The problem occurs when your script takes some long time to retrieve information from the database or maintains the connections.
Since you are executing INSERT and / or UPDATE operations of millions of rows, so you may have some problem.
Additionally, if you fail to close connections in your script(s), it is possible that someone will load a page and instead of closing the connection when the page is loaded, it is left open. No one else can then use that connection. So please make sure that at the end of execution of all the MySQL / SQL queries, the database connection is closed. Also please make sure that your server provides more than 250 connections, since 100 connections is available in almost all the servers generally.
Also make sure that you are not using the persistent connections (which is available when using the built-in function "mysql_pconnect()"), since this will lock up the user until the connection is manually closed.
Hope it helps.
//this loop is for preparing the subquery for mutiple records
for(// this loop for getting data for mutiple records){
$sub_query[] = "('".$to."','".$status."','".$report."','','".$timewsha1."','".$smsID."','','".$type."')";
}
$query = "insert into table(mobno,status,description,date,send_deltime,sms_id,msg,send_type) values ";
$query .= implode(',',$sub_query);
mysql_query($query );
So, a remote app calls into this script, sends it a list of values, and then this query is executed once, right? It's not in a foreach or for or while loop? When you say it will be executed millions of times, you don't mean in one sitting I mean. If it is in a loop, then move the db connect outside of the loop, otherwise it will attempt to connect again each time the loop iterates, and also, remember to call mysql_close at the end of the script, just in case.
mysql_pconnect() would create a persistent connection and that is the way to go if you don't want to exhaust your server's connection pool.

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