PHP/MySQL display number of records

[VENCO]

I am trying to alter a script I have to include another feature.

Currently I have $poweredby .= "There are XXX submitted items.";
which puts it in the format I need, but I need XXX replaced with the actual number. I suppose the best way to do that is to just count the number of records in one of the tables of my database which includes those items.

How do I do this?

Thank you

[Silmaril8n]

mysql_num_rows();

That will show you the number of returned rows in the last executed query.

[Viper007Bond]

MySQL's COUNT is also sometimes a good option, depending on what you're doing.

[ColemanHamilton]

Stick with the mysql_num_rows(); its a very powerful little function. Which is very useful on what i do. I use it all the time.

[Mr. Popularity]

this is true... some people who dont know better actually select * and load all that data into memory :rolleyes:

[VENCO]

Problem is I'm not really sure what I'm doing. I've been starting to be able to edit some php, but constructing it from the beginning is a whole different story.

[Viper007Bond]

Stick with the mysql_num_rows(); its a very powerful little function. Which is very useful on what i do. I use it all the time.
Yes, but to get num_rows to work, you gotta do a query. If you're only wanting the number of rows for something, why select up a column or something and have to transfer all of that data when COUNT will just spit back an integer?

[Silmaril8n]

Yes, but to get num_rows to work, you gotta do a query. If you're only wanting the number of rows for something, why select up a column or something and have to transfer all of that data when COUNT will just spit back an integer?
That's a good and very important point. COUNT would be better used when displaying paginated data, where mysql_num_rows is helpful for throwing in some useful stats on the current recordset.

[Viper007Bond]

Yeah. If you're grabbing data and just want to know how much you got, then num_rows is what you want. If you're ONLY looking to count something in a table, then COUNT is what you want.