To illustrate how the "fetchLimit()" method created earlier can be used to retrieve a specified number of records from a MySQL table, I first need to have one to work with. So, I'm going to use the same "users" table that you saw in some previous tutorials, which contained data about a few people. Here it is:

Now that the above MySQL table is available for use, it's time to create a short code sample that shows how to utilize the "fetchLimit()" method included in the "MySQL" class. In this specific case, the example below retrieves four users, starting from the third row. Take a look at it, please:

try{

// connect to MySQL and select a database

$db=new MySQL('host','user','password','mydatabase');

// display users with the LIMIT clause

$result=$db->fetchLimit(2,4,'users');

foreach($result as $row){

echo $row['firstname'].' '.$row['lastname'].' '.$row['email'].'<br />';

}

/* displays the following

Susan Norton susan@domain.com
Marian Wilson marian@domain.com
Mary Smith mary@domain.com
Amanda Bears amanda@domain.com

*/

}

catch(Exception $e){

echo $e->getMessage();

exit();

}

See how simple it is to use the prior "fetchLimit()" method to fetch a predefined number of records from the sample "users" MySQL table? I bet you do! As show above, the method allows you to perform LIMIT clauses using a modified version of the active record approach, and best of all, through a friendly interface.

Finally, feel free to introduce your own enhancements into the previous "MySQL" class (possibly checking SQL queries more thoroughly, adding more methods, etc), in this manner extending your skills in utilizing the active record pattern with PHP.

Final thoughts

We've come to the end of this fifth installment of the series. Overall the experience has been hopefully instructive, because you learned how to build a basic MySQL abstraction class that performs a few common database-related operations using the active record pattern.

In this case, no mapper objects were used, as a typical implementation of this pattern would do, but in the end, the class's API permits you to access MySQL tables through a highly abstract and friendly interface, which could be quite useful when working with multiple database servers.

However, there's a point with reference to the way this class works that deserves a close analysis. Obviously, its methods often duplicate business logic. For instance, why code two different methods that perform SELECT statements (even if they append distinct SQL clauses to the end), when they can be merged into a single one that builds queries dynamically?

This specific issue, and a few others, will be addressed in the next article, so you don't have any excuses to miss it!