Re: Using a Left() result in PHP

Hi Kim, > I want to get the first 64 characters from a database row result and display > only those 64 characters using PHP. The snipped code is here - I've deleted > all the error trapping and comments: > > $result = @mysql_query("select ID, Writer, left(text,64) from Reports where > writer like '%kim%';"); > > while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)) { > $ID=$row["ID"]; > $Writer=$row["Writer"]; > $text= $row["Text"]; > > echo ("<p>" . $ID . " " . $Writer . " " . $Text . > "</p>"); > > This returns a blank result for Text. If I remove the left() from the SQL it > works but displays the entire report - hundreds of words. How can I display > only those first 64 characters - am I missing something obvious? The 'fieldname' that is passed from MySQL to PHP depends upon the terminology of the SELECT clause (not the schema of the table). So the column's name is text (BTW not a good choice) but the query knows the resultant value as "left(text,64)" - issue the query from the command line or in an admin pkg, and check the column headings, if you want to see what I mean! Use an AS to give the computed-column a 'good name' and you'll be away:- $result = @mysql_query("select ID, Writer, left(text,64) as Intro from Reports where writer like '%kim%';"); ... > $text= $row["Intro"]; Regards, =dn