Enhancing the functionality of the MySQL class with the LIMIT clause - PHP

Undoubtedly, defining a method within the previous "MySQL" class that permits us to fetch a limited number of rows from a specified MySQL table would be a neat add-on. Moreover, if this method allows us to perform this task without having to write SQL code directly, this is even better.

Therefore, the next thing that I'm going to do will be exactly that, that is, include a method that runs SELECT queries by using a LIMIT clause. The signature of the "MySQL" class, after coding this brand new method, will be the following:

class MySQL{

private $result;

public function __construct($host='localhost',$user='user',$password='password',$database='database'){

// connect to MySQL and select database

if(!$conId=mysql_connect($host,$user,$password)){

throw new Exception('Error connecting to the server');

}

if(!mysql_select_db($database,$conId)){

throw new Exception('Error selecting database');

}

}

// run SQL query

public function query($query){

if(!$this->result=mysql_query($query)){

throw new Exception('Error performing query '.$query);

}

}

// fetch one row

public function fetchRow(){

while($row=mysql_fetch_array($this->result)){

return $row;

}

return false;

}

// fetch all rows

public function fetchAll($table='default_table'){

$this->query('SELECT * FROM '.$table);

$rows=array();

while($row=$this->fetchRow()){

$rows[]=$row;

}

return $rows;

}

// fetch rows using 'WHERE' clause

public function fetchWhere($where,$table='default_table'){

$this->query('SELECT * FROM '.$table.' WHERE '.$where);

$rows=array();

while($row=$this->fetchRow()){

$rows[]=$row;

}

return $rows;

}

// fetch rows using 'LIKE' clause

public function fetchLike($field,$like,$table='default_table'){

$this->query('SELECT * FROM '.$table.' WHERE '.$field.' LIKE '.$like);

$rows=array();

while($row=$this->fetchRow()){

$rows[]=$row;

}

return $rows;

}

// insert row

public function insert($params=array(),$table='default_table'){

$sql='INSERT INTO '.$table.' ('.implode(',',array_keys($params)).') VALUES (''.implode("','",array_values($params)).'')';

$this->query($sql);

}

// update row

public function update($params=array(),$where,$table='default_table'){

$args=array();

foreach($params as $field=>$value){

$args[]=$field.'=''.$value.''';

}

$sql='UPDATE '.$table.' SET '.implode(',',$args).' WHERE '.$where;

$this->query($sql);

}

// delete one or multiple rows

public function delete($where='',$table='default_table'){

$sql=!$where?'DELETE FROM '.$table:'DELETE FROM '.$table.' WHERE '.$where;

$this->query($sql);

}

// fetch rows using 'LIMIT' clause

public function fetchLimit($offset=1,$numrows=1,$table='default_table'){

$this->query('SELECT * FROM '.$table.' LIMIT '.$offset.','.$numrows);

$rows=array();

while($row=$this->fetchRow()){

$rows[]=$row;

}

return $rows;

}

}

Now the above class is becoming a pretty lengthy, right? Don't worry; I listed separately for you the signature of this new method, called "fetchLimit()." Here it's what it looks like:

// fetch rows using 'LIMIT' clause

public function fetchLimit($offset=1,$numrows=1,$table='default_table'){

$this->query('SELECT * FROM '.$table.' LIMIT '.$offset.','.$numrows);

$rows=array();

while($row=$this->fetchRow()){

$rows[]=$row;

}

return $rows;

}

As you can see, all that the "fetchLimit()" method does is encapsulate the logic required to fetch a specified number of database records from a selected MySQL table by means of the classic LIMIT clause.

Since this method is indeed very simple to grasp, I'm not going to bore you with additional explanations about how it functions. Instead, I'll develop a practical example, where you can see it in action. The last section of this tutorial will be dedicated exclusively to setting up this concrete example.

Please click on the link below and read the next section. We're almost finished!