How to get query to transfer to subsquent pages when paginating results - php

Question

I've been going through all the pagination questions and answers on the site, and among all the long-drawn out code and OO solutions, this code is among the shortest and simplest:
<?php
// insert your mysql connection code here
$perPage = 10;
$page = (isset($_GET['page'])) ? (int)$_GET['page'] : 1;
$startAt = $perPage * ($page - 1);
$query = "SELECT COUNT(*) as total FROM table";
$r = mysql_fetch_assoc(mysql_query($query));
$totalPages = ceil($r['total'] / $perPage);
$links = "";
for ($i = 1; $i <= $totalPages; $i++) { $links .= ($i != $page ) ? "<a href='index.php?page=$i'>Page $i</a> " : "$page "; }
$query = "SELECT * FROM table ORDER BY title LIMIT $startAt, $perPage";
$r = mysql_query($query);
// display results here the way you want
echo $links; // show links to other pages
But I still can't see how to regenerate the query with the updated LIMIT on the subsequent pages. None of the messages make this clear, and I continue to get blank second pages no matter which code I try. I'd really appreciate it if someone could explain how to get the query results to the next pages.

Answer 1

I think you have to use the OFFSET token in your query. Like so:
$query = "SELECT * FROM table ORDER BY title LIMIT $perPage OFFSET $perPage * $page";
I hope this helps.

Answer 2

Not sure why you need to do select count(*) every time. I would suggest doing it like this:
<?php
/* establish the connection */
$mysqli = new mysqli (
'localhost', // The host to connect to
'username', // The user to connect as
'password', // The password to use
'dbname'); // The default database to query
/* check connection */
if (mysqli_connect_errno()) {
printf("Connect failed: %s<br />\n", mysqli_connect_error());
exit();
}
$perPage = 10;
$page = (isset($_GET['page'])) ? (int)$_GET['page'] : 1;
$startAt = $perPage * ($page - 1);
/* Send a query to the server */
if ($result = $mysqli->query(
"SELECT * FROM table ORDER BY title limit $startAt, $perPage")) {
$rowCnt = $result->num_rows;
echo "<h3>Page: $page</h3>\n";
/* Fetch the results of the query and show results*/
while( $row = $result->fetch_assoc() ) {
printf("%s - %s<br/>\n", $row['orderDate'], $row['orderDescription']);
}
/* Show next page, previous page links dynamically */
echo "<p>\n";
// generate previous page link if current page no is after 1st page
if ($page > 1)
printf("<a href='%s?page=%d'>Previous Page</a> \n",
$_SERVER["SCRIPT_NAME"], ($page-1));
// generate next page link if we were able to fetch $perPage rows
if ($rowCnt == $perPage)
printf("<a href='%s?page=%d'>Next Page</a>\n",
$_SERVER["SCRIPT_NAME"], ($page+1));
echo "</p>\n";
/* Destroy the result set and free the memory used for it */
$result->close();
}
/* close the connection */
$mysqli->close();
?>
I am using new mysqli extension of php, here is the php mysqli reference documentation