insert query results into hyperlink

one field in table of query results converted to hyperlink?

[crackpipe]

A couple of days scratching my head over this one. I've got three columns I return from a MySQL query that I put into table format for as many records as the search returns. This works flawlessly and I won't waste space here with the table formatting. This is how I return the query:

$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM Items");
while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)) {
 echo "<tr><td>">".$row{'item_name'}."</td><td>".$row{'item_pages'}."</td><td>".$row{'item_desc'}."</td></tr>";
} 

You can see the three columns I return from the table are 'item_name', 'item_pages', and 'item_desc'. All works fine and it makes a table with as many rows as there are results.

The problem starts now I've attempted to add clickability to my results for "item_name" so I can simply click on any 'item_name' result and retrieve that file; 'item_name' stores complete file names in the database. The first, intermediate step was to see if I could insert a dead-end hyperlink, with 'item_name, and keep the formatting within the table:

while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)) {
 echo "<tr><td><a href=\"#\">".$row{'item_name'}."</a></td><td>".$row{'item_pages'}."</td><td>".$row{'item_desc'}."</td></tr>";
} 

This worked quite well for displaying an underlined text version of the file name ("item_name"'s value) in each row of the table. Of course, when clicked, the link didn't do anything but reload the page, since the link just went to '#'. So the final step, replacing '#' with the value in 'item_name' had to be taken. But inserting "item_name"'s value into the 'a href="' side of the hyperlink has not worked any way I've crafted it. When I get to this place...

 
while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)) {
 echo "<tr><td><a href=\".$row{'item_name'}.\">".$row{'item_name'}."</a></td><td>".$row{'item_pages'}."</td><td>".$row{'item_desc'}."</td></tr>";
} 

...the entire link disappears. Someone here probably knows the proper code? Thanks.

[jatar_k]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld,

have you looked at the html it creates via view source? usually thse are html errors and the first clue is looking at the final product.

[andrewsmd]

jatar_k is correct check out the html source code. My guess is that item_name is nothing. If the link is disappearing I bet when your echoing $row{'item_name'} it's null which phps ingenious brain parses it to "" automatically for you (develop in .net for a while and you will learn to appreciate little things like that). I bet in your source you have something like <tr><td><a href=""></a></td>... and thus no link. Just a guess though.

[crackpipe]

I appreciate the welcome and the responses. Your pointer to "view source" was the kicker -- I knew about 'view source', but was unaware source would appear as generated by the PHP, not as coded in the PHP. Apparently, there is a different format for displaying variables in HTML than in PHP. I'll just show the relevant portion of the solution here.

Previously (didn't create hyperlink):

echo "<tr><td><a href=\".$row{item_name}.\">".$row{'item_name'}."</a></td>

Currently (creates proper hyperlink):

echo "<tr><td><a href=\"$row[item_name]\">".$row{'item_name'}."</a></td>

That is, in HTML, columns within an array appear to require square brackets around their name (eg.[item_name]) to display the field's value, whereas in PHP, we seem to need braces and apostrophes around the column's name (eg. {'item_name'}). Thanks for the 'view source'pointer which allowed me to get there.

On a side note, if anyone here feels strongly that an excellent database engineering program exists in either a US or Euro university, I would love to hear about it. Thanks.

[jatar_k]

actually the braces are wrong, column names, as you put it, which is actually just standard array notation

in your case $row is an array, as returned from mysql_fetch_array or like function

you can access the parts of this array as such

$row['column_name']

though really that isn't 100% true as what is returned from a query is not always a column name

[andrewsmd]

I use the DB.php file that comes with PEAR. If the web page showed the php then it wouldn't a be server side programming language, it would have to be client side like JS.