How do I insert values into an multidimensional-array, then show them? - php

Question

I'm fairly new to php, and I don't know how to work with arrays very well. Here's the deal, I want to add into a multidimensional array three or more values I obtain from my database, then I want to sort them based on the timestamp (one of the values). After that, I want to show all of the sorted values. I can't seem to do this, here's the code
$queryWaitingPatients = 'SELECT ArrivalTime, TargetTime, Order, Classification FROM exams WHERE (CurrentState = "Pending")';
$results = mysql_query($queryWaitingPatients) or die(mysql_error());
if (mysql_num_rows($results) == 0) {
echo '<p>There\'s currently no patient on the waiting list.</p>';
return;
}
while ($rows = mysql_fetch_array($results)) {
extract($rows);
//now is the part that I don't know, putting the values into an array
}
// I'm also not sure how to sort this according to my $TargetTime
asort($sortedTimes);
//the other part I don't know, showing the values,
Thanks for the help!

Answer 1

Well, let's look at your code. First, you have a query that's returning a result set. I don't recommend using mysql_fetch_array because it's not only deprecated (use mysqli functions instead) but it tends to lend itself to bad code. It's hard to figure out what you're referencing when all your keys are numbers. So I recommend mysqli_fetch_assoc (be sure you're fully switched to the mysqli functions first, like mysql_connect and mysqli_query)
Second, I really dislike using extract. We need to work with the array directly. Here's how we do this
$myarray = array();
while ($rows = mysqlI_fetch_assoc($results)) {
$myarray[] = $rows;
}
echo $myarray[0]['ArrivalTime'];
So let's go over this. First, we're building an array of arrays. So we initialize our overall array. Then we want to push the rows onto this array. That's what $myarray[] does. Finally, the array we're pushing is associative, meaning all the keys of the row match up with the field names of your query.
Now, the sorting really needs to be done in your query. So let's tweak your query
$queryWaitingPatients = 'SELECT ArrivalTime, TargetTime, `Order`, Classification
FROM exams
WHERE CurrentState = "Pending"
ORDER BY TargetTime';
This way, when your PHP runs, your database now churns them out in the correct order for your array. No sorting code needed.

Answer 2

$arr = array();
while ($rows = mysql_fetch_array($results)) {
array_push ($arr, $row);
}
print_r($arr);

Answer 3

<?php
$queryWaitingPatients = ' SELECT ArrivalTime, TargetTime, Order, Classification, CurrentState
FROM exams
WHERE CurrentState = "Pending"
ORDER BY TargetTime ';
$results = mysql_query($queryWaitingPatients) or die(mysql_error());
if ($results -> num_rows < 1)
{
echo '<p>There\'s currently no patient on the waiting list.</p>';
}
else
{
while ($rows = mysqli_fetch_array($results))
{
$arrivaltime = $row['ArrivalTime'];
$targettime = $row['targettime'];
$order = $row['Order'];
$classification = $row['Classification'];
echo "Arrival: ".$arrivaltime."--Target time: ".$targettime."--Order: ".$order."--Classification: ".$classification;
}
}
echo "Done!";
//or you could put it in a json array and pass it to client side.
?>