PHP | mysqli_fetch_lengths() Function

Hello folks! welcome back to a new edition of our tutorial on PHP. In this tutorial guide, we are going to be studying about the PHP mysqli_fetch_lengths() Function.

The built-in mysqli_fetch_lengths() function accepts a result object as a parameter, retrieves the lengths of columns in the current row of the given result, and returns them in the form of an array.

Syntax

Following below is the syntax to use this function -

mysqli_fetch_lengths($result);

READ: PHP | mysqli_fetch_fields() Function

Parameter Details

Sr.No	Parameter & Description
1	result(Mandatory) This is an identifier representing a result object.

Return Value

This built-in PHP function returns an array (of integers) containing the length/size of each column of the current row if successful and, it returns false in case of an error.

PHP Version

This PHP function was first introduced in PHP version 5 and works in all the later versions.

Example1

The following below is an example which demonstrates the usage of PHP mysqli_fetch_lengths() function (in a procedural style) -

<?php
   $con = mysqli_connect("localhost", "root", "password", "mydb");

   mysqli_query($con, "CREATE TABLE myplayers(ID INT, First_Name VARCHAR(255), Last_Name VARCHAR(255), Place_Of_Birth VARCHAR(255), Country VARCHAR(255))");
   print("Table Created.....\n");
   mysqli_query($con, "INSERT INTO myplayers values(1, 'Kennedy', 'Nkpara', 'PortHarcourt', 'Nigeria')");
   mysqli_query($con, "INSERT INTO myplayers values(2, 'Jonathan', 'Trott', 'CapeTown', 'SouthAfrica')");
   mysqli_query($con, "INSERT INTO myplayers values(3, 'Queen', 'Douglas', 'Texas', 'UnitedStates')");
   print("Record Inserted.....\n");

   //Retrieving the contents of the table
   $res = mysqli_query($con, "SELECT * FROM myplayers");

   //Lengths of the rows
   $row = mysqli_fetch_row($res);
   $lengths = mysqli_fetch_lengths($res);

   print_r($lengths);
   mysqli_free_result($res);

   mysqli_close($con);
?>

Output

When the above code is executed, it will produce the following result -

Table Created.....
Record Inserted.....
Array
(
    [0] => 1
    [1] => 6
    [2] => 6
    [3] => 5
    [4] => 5
)

Example2

In an object oriented style the syntax of this function is $result->lengths; Following is the example of this function in an object oriented style $minus;

<?php
   //Creating a connection
   $con = new mysqli("localhost", "root", "password", "mydb");
  
   $con -> query("CREATE TABLE Test(Name VARCHAR(255), AGE INT)");
   $con -> query("insert into Test values('Kennedy', 27),('Paul', 30),('Justice', 28)");
   print("Table Created.....\n");

   $stmt = $con -> prepare( "SELECT * FROM Test WHERE Name in(?, ?)");
   $stmt -> bind_param("ss", $name1, $name2);
   $name1 = 'Kennedy';
   $name2 = 'Paul';

   //Executing the statement
   $stmt->execute();

   //Retrieving the result
   $res = $stmt->get_result();
   $row = $res->fetch_row();

   $len = $res ->lengths;
   print_r($len);

   //Closing the statement
   $stmt->close();

   //Closing the connection
   $con->close();
?>

Output

When the above code is executed, it will produce the following result -

Table Created.....
Array
(
    [0] => 4
    [1] => 0
)

Example3

For this function to retrieve the lengths, it is mandatory to call it after fetching the rows using mysqli_fetch_row/array/object method otherwise, it returns false $minus;

<?php
   $con = mysqli_connect("localhost", "root", "password", "mydb");

   mysqli_query($con, "CREATE TABLE data(ID INT, Name VARCHAR(255), Age INT)");
   mysqli_query($con, "INSERT INTO data values(1, 'Bethel', 27)");
   mysqli_query($con, "INSERT INTO data values(2, 'Stephanie', 24)");
   print("Record Inserted.....\n");

   //Retrieving the contents of the table
   $res = mysqli_query($con, "SELECT * FROM data");

   //Lengths of the rows
   $bool = $lengths = mysqli_fetch_lengths($res);

   if($bool){
      print("Lengths Retrieved");
   }else{
      print("Failed");
   }

   print_r($lengths);
   mysqli_free_result($res);

   mysqli_close($con);
?>

Output

When the above code is executed, it will produce the following result below -

Record Inserted.....
Failed

READ: PHP | mysqli_fetch_all() Function

Alright guys! This is where we are going to be rounding up for this tutorial post. In our next tutorial, we are going to be discussing about the mysqli_fetch_object() Function in PHP.

Do feel free to ask your questions where necessary and we will attend to them as soon as possible. If this tutorial was helpful to you, you can use the share button to share this tutorial.

Do follow us on our various social media handles available and also subscribe to our newsletter to get our tutorial posts delivered directly to your emails.

Thanks for reading and bye for now.