PHP mysqli_fetch_assoc to store data in an array - php

Question

I have a list of url's(link) in my database and can echo the data to the page fine but instead of outputting it, I need to store that info(I was thinking an array) into a variable to perform php tasks using the provided links. I have yet to figure out how to do this.
The code has been updated I removed any references to using the soon to be deprecated mysql_* functions and opted for the mysqli version.
Heres my code
$query = "SELECT `Link` FROM `Table1` WHERE `Image` ='' AND `Source`='blah'";
if ($result = mysqli_query($dblink, $query)) {
while ($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
$link = $row['Link'];
// echo ''.$link.'<br>';
$html = file_get_html($link);
foreach ($html->find('div.article') as $e) {
$result = $e->find('img', 0);
$imgsrc = $result->src . '<br>';
echo $imgsrc;
}
}
}
This code is working through one iteration: It will find the first link stored in the DB, use that $link in the bottom foreach() statement and output the desired result. After the first iteration of the loop, an error occurs stating:
"mysqli_fetch_assoc() expects parameter 1 to be a mysql result"
I think I understand why the problem is occurring - Since the $result is declared outside of the while loop, it is never set again after the first iteration/or changes in some way.
or
I should be using mysqli_free_result() possibly, If that were the case I am not sure where it would go in the code.
Thanks for any help you can offer!

Answer 1

When you do this:
$result = mysqli_query($dblink, $query);
The functions return a link identifier you store in $result. This identifier we need to pass to fetch functions in order to be able to show it from which result to fetch. It shouldn't be changed until you are done fetching all the results you want.
This goes right the first time:
$row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)
But then, in the foreach, you overwrite that variable with other information:
$result = $e->find('img', 0);
As such, when the next iteration comes around, it is no longer a valid result identifier, so MySQL doesn't know what to do with it.
The fix is actually rather simple, you need to change the name of the variable you are using in the foreach:
$result = $e->find('img', 0);
$imgsrc = $result->src . '<br>';
Becomes:
$found= $e->find('img', 0);
$imgsrc = $found->src . '<br>';
And voila, it should work...

Answer 2

Your snippet is full of potential errors:
1) Not checking if query succeeded
$query_run = mysql_query($query)
You execute a query, but you never check if your query succeeded by verifying if $query_run is an actual resource and not FALSE.
2) Validation of rows returned
Your validation for the number of rows returned by the query is useless:
if (mysql_num_rows($query_run)==NULL) {
echo 'No results found.';
}
This is never true, as mysql_num_rows() returns an inte or FALSE, never NULL.
3) Use of variable with potentially invalid value
Using
while ($query_row = mysql_fetch_assoc($query_run)) { ... }
is risky as you never check if $query_run is an actual resource, which is required by mysql_fetch_assoc().
4) Misunderstanding of while loop
The following lines are probably wrong too:
while ($query_row = mysql_fetch_assoc($query_run)) {
$link = $query_row['Link'];
// echo ''.$link.'<br>';
}
$html = file_get_html($link);
You iterate over all rows returned by the query. After the while loop exits, $link only contains the value of the last row as single variable cannot contain the values of multiple rows.
Conclusion
I strongly recommend you improve your error checking and improve the overall quality of your code. Also consider using one of the newer extensions like mysqli or PDO, the mysql extension is deprecated.

Answer 3

If you want to add all links to an array try this:
$link[] = $query_row['Link'];
Instead of:
$link = $query_row['Link'];
You were close but you weren't using square brackets you were using parentheses as shown here:
$link = $query_row($link);
Also, try taking $query_run out of the if statement. It should look something like this:
$query = "SELECT `Link` FROM `Table1` WHERE `Value1` ='' AND `Source`='blah'";
$query_run = mysql_query($query);
if ($query_run) {
echo 'Query Success!<br><br>';
if (mysql_num_rows($query_run) == NULL) {
echo 'No results found.';
}
while ($query_row = mysql_fetch_assoc($query_run)) {
$link[] = $query_row['Link'];
// echo ''.$link.'<br>';
}
$html = file_get_html($link);
foreach ($html->find('div.article') as $e) {
$result = $e->find('img', 0);
$imgsrc = $result->src . '<br>';
echo $imgsrc;
}
}

Answer 4

You should revisit the PHP Language Reference.
The foreach loop syntax is
foreach($array as $element)
or
foreach($array as $key=>$value)
But you seem to have other weak points that I fear are not in the scope of Stackoverflow to mend. For example your own code would work quite well by just moving a single } from line 11 down a few lines.