Select MySQL column/row with comma separated values - php

Question

Suppose I have the following table information
+-------------+---------------+
+ id + letters +
+-------------+---------------+
+ 1 + a, b, c, d, e +
+-------------+---------------+
I am trying to capture the values of the column and store them in variables:
$result = mysql_query("SELECT letters FROM tbl WHERE id=1");
while ($data = mysql_fetch_array($result)) {
// Declare captured db variables
$letter1 = ** what comes here? **;
$letter2 = ** what comes here? **;
}

Answer 1

You can try this way:
$result = mysql_query("SELECT letters FROM tbl WHERE id=1");
$letters = explode(',',mysql_fetch_array($result));
Now you can access any letter using an array, like this $letters[0]; //a.

Answer 2

Instead of having
$letter1
$letter2
I would make an' array with explode.
$letter = explode(',', $data['letters']);
That way you can acccess your letters with a simple $letter[0] or $letter[1]
Now the above code works from the assumption that you only run through the while loop ONCE.
If you run through the while loop more than once, I'd do it like this:
$letter[] = explode(',', $data['letters']);
which is accessed by $letter[0][0] - The first [] being the instance of number when it was fetched, the second [] being the letter you want to fetch.
Another thing
Mysql is outdated / not gonna be used / very unsecure so I would advice you to find another alternative to mysql, such as mysqli or PDO - It is better to use these while you are learning because that way you avoid getting stuck with bad routines.

Answer 3

How about this?
$result = mysql_query("SELECT letters FROM tbl WHERE id=1");
while ($data = mysql_fetch_array($result)) {
// Declare captured db variables
/* list($letter1,$letter2,$letter3,$letter4,$letter5) = explode(',' , $data['letters']);
*/
$letters = array();
// letters array will have the exploded letters
$letters = explode(',' , $data['letters']);
}
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