Re: PHP database syntax/construct: can we make it better?

If you're going to go through all the bother, why even have an sql_init function? Just pass the info that sql_init() was to get within the $sql_params array and make the sql_start()...sql_end() construct smart enough to maintain the connection. For that matter, since it's a language construct a lot more than it is just a few extra functions, you could design the construct in a slightly different manner: <? $empcount = 0; $sql_statement = "SELECT firstname, lastname, company FROM mytable"; sql ("host", "username", "password", "dbtype", $sql_statement [, $sql_params_array ]) { echo $firstname . ", " . $lastname . ", " . $company . "<BR>\n"; $empcount++; } echo "There are " . $empcount . " employees listed in the above table.<BR>\n"; ?> I included the $empcount lines to show freely intermingling stock PHP within the loop created by the currently fictitious sql() construct. The $firstname, $lastname, and $company variables are automagically generated within the implied loop within the sql() construct, and would be destroyed when leaving the construct--their scope would be local to the construct only. The optional $sql_params_array would be where you put those additional features that aren't required for the operation of the built-in loop, but only modify the operation of the loop. However, I didn't understand what you meant by "row accumulation". I did understand what you meant by limiting the number of rows, though, but those depend upon values that must exist outside of the construct when it is run...so those may be best left to stock PHP to adjust LIMIT clauses when building the SQL statement itself before using the construct. Just some ideas for you. Doug Monte Ohrt was heard at 03:59 PM 7/11/00 -0500 to say: ... snip ... ><? > > $id = sql_init("host","username","password","db"); > $sql_params = array( "query" => "select firstname,lastname,company from my_table" ); > > sql_start($id,$sql_params); > > echo "$firstname, $lastname, $company<br>\n"; > > sql_end($id); > >?> > ... snip ...