Why isn't my MySQL data being displayed in my table? - php

Question

Why is my MySQL data not being displayed in my table? Everything seems to work fine except that my data (which is a list of bird names and such) isn't showing up. I need some fresh eyes who can see where my mistake is, and yes I know that there are probably easier ways to do this, but this is what is required for my assignment, so please don't offer other ways to do this. All I need is help getting my data to populate in the HTML table. My PHP code is below:
PHP Code
<?php
$pageTitle = 'Mod06 Pagination| Jason McCoy ';
include('includes/header.inc.php');
include ('includes/db_connect.inc.php');
$display = 8;
// Determine how many pages there are...
if (isset($_GET['p']) && is_numeric($_GET['p'])) { // Already been determined.
$pages = $_GET['pages'];
} else {
$query = "SELECT COUNT(birdID) FROM birds";
$result = #mysqli_query($dbc, $query);
$row = #mysqli_fetch_array($result, MYSQLI_NUM);
$records = $row[0];
}
// Calculate the number of pages...
if ($records > $display) {
$pages = ceil($records/$display);
} else {
$pages = 1;
}
// Determine where in the database to start returning results...
if (isset($_GET['s']) && is_numeric($_GET['s'])) {
$start = $_GET['s'];
} else {
$start = 0;
}
// Sort the columns
// Default is birdID
$sortDefault = 'birdID';
// Create an array for the columns
$sortColumns = array('birdID', 'nameGeneral', 'nameSpecific', 'populationTrend');
// Define sortable query ASC DESC
$sort = (isset($_GET['sort'])) && in_array($_GET['sort'], $sortColumns) ? $_GET['sort']: $sortDefault;
$order = (isset($_GET['order']) && strcasecmp($_GET['order'], 'DESC') == 0) ? 'DESC' : 'ASC';
// Run the query
$query = "SELECT birdID, nameGeneral, nameSpecific, populationTrend FROM birds ORDER BY $order LIMIT $start, $display";
$result = #mysqli_query($dbc, $query);
?>
<!-- Table header: -->
<table align="center" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" width="80%">
<tr>
<th><a href='index.php?sort=birdID&order=<?php echo $order == 'DESC' ? 'ASC' : 'DESC' ?>'>Bird<?
if($_GET["order"]=="ASC" && $_GET["sort"]=="birdID"){
echo '<img src="images/downArrow.jpg" id="birdASC" name="birdASC" style="margin:-15px 0 0 13px;" width="18px" height="18px">';
} else {
echo '<img src="images/upArrow.jpg" id="birdDESC" name="birdDESC" style="margin:-15px 0 0 13px;" width="18px" height="18px">';
}?></a></th>
<th><a href='index.php?sort=nameGeneral&order=<?php echo $order == 'DESC' ? 'ASC' : 'DESC' ?>'>General Name<?
if($_GET["order"]=="ASC" && $_GET["sort"]=="nameGeneral"){
echo '<img src="images/downArrow.jpg" id="nameGeneralASC" name="nameGeneralASC" style="margin:-15px 0 0 13px;" width="18px" height="18px">';
} else {
echo '<img src="images/upArrow.jpg" id="nameGeneralDESC" name="birdDESC" style="margin:-15px 0 0 13px;" width="18px" height="18px">';
}?></a></th>
<th><a href='index.php?sort=nameSpecific&order=<?php echo $order == 'DESC' ? 'ASC' : 'DESC' ?>'>Name Specific<?
if($_GET["order"]=="ASC" && $_GET["sort"]=="nameSpecific"){
echo '<img src="images/downArrow.jpg" id="nameSpecificASC" name="nameSpecificASC" style="margin:-15px 0 0 13px;" width="18px" height="18px">';
} else {
echo '<img src="images/upArrow.jpg" id="nameSpecificDESC" name="birdDESC" style="margin:-15px 0 0 13px;" width="18px" height="18px">';
}?></a></th>
<th><a href='index.php?sort=populationTrend&order=<?php echo $order == 'DESC' ? 'ASC' : 'DESC' ?>'>Population Trend<?
if($_GET["order"]=="ASC" && $_GET["sort"]=="populationTrend"){
echo '<img src="images/downArrow.jpg" id="populationTrendASC" name="populationTrendASC" style="margin:-15px 0 0 13px;" width="18px" height="18px">';
} else {
echo '<img src="images/upArrow.jpg" id="populationTrendDESC" name="birdDESC" style="margin:-15px 0 0 13px;" width="18px" height="18px">';
}?></a></th>
</tr>
<?php
// Display the database results in the table...
while ($row = #mysqli_fetch_array($result, MYSQL_ASSOC)) {
echo '<tr>
<td align="left">$row[birdID]</td>
<td align="left">$row[nameGeneral]</td>
<td align="left">$row[nameSpecific]</td>
<td align="left">$row[populationTrend]</td>
<tr>';
}
echo '</table>';
mysqli_close($dbc);
// Make the links to other pages, if necessary.
if ($pages > 1) {
echo '<br /><p>';
$currentPage = ($start/$display) + 1;
// If it's not the first page, make a Previous button:
if ($currentPage != 1) {
echo 'Previous ';
}
// Make all the numbered pages:
for ($i = 1; $i <= $pages; $i++) {
if ($i != $currentPage) {
echo '' . $i . ' ';
} else {
echo $i . ' ';
}
} // End of FOR loop.
// If it's not the last page, make a Next button:
if ($currentPage != $pages) {
echo 'Next';
}
echo '</p>';
}
include('includes/footer.inc.php');
?>
</div>
</body>
</html>

Answer 1

Change this one $row[birdID] to $row['birdID'] for all, you missed ''.

Answer 2

use " inside echo like this, you have used ' because of that the value from database is not displayed.
while ($row = #mysqli_fetch_array($result, MYSQL_ASSOC)) {
echo "<tr>
<td align=\"left\">$row[birdID]</td>
<td align=\"left\">$row[nameGeneral]</td>
<td align=\"left\">$row[nameSpecific]</td>
<td align=\"left\">$row[populationTrend]</td>
<tr>";
}

Answer 3

Sorry, if a bit concise, typing from a phone...
'$row[birdID]'
and the other parts should be properly rewritten as:
'$row['birdID']'
as birdID is a string, not a variable name.
Though PHP uses this as a string, if there is no variable with that name in the current scope.
Always use quotes around a string literal array index. For example, $foo['bar'] is
correct, while $foo[bar] is not. But why? It is common to encounter this kind of
syntax in old scripts
from the PHP documentation: http://php.net/manual/en/language.types.array.php
EDIT somebody pointed out the single quotes used in echo too, that is a problem too. with single quotes, PHP will not interpret the content of the string, whereas with double quotes, PHP will parsde it, and use the values properly.