Query Helper Methods

Information From Executing a Query

$this->db->insert_id()

The insert ID number when performing database inserts.

$this->db->affected_rows()

Displays the number of affected rows, when doing “write” type queries (insert, update, etc.).

$this->db->last_query()

Returns the last query that was run (the query string, not the result). Example:

$str = $this->db->last_query();

// Produces:  SELECT * FROM sometable....

Information About Your Database

$this->db->count_all()

Permits you to determine the number of rows in a particular table. Submit the table name in the first parameter. Example:

echo $this->db->count_all('my_table');

// Produces an integer, like 25

$this->db->platform()

Outputs the database platform you are running (MySQL, MS SQL, Postgres, etc…):

echo $this->db->platform();

$this->db->version()

Outputs the database version you are running:

echo $this->db->version();

Making Your Queries Easier

$this->db->insert_string()

This function simplifies the process of writing database inserts. It returns a correctly formatted SQL insert string. Example:

$data = array('name' => $name, 'email' => $email, 'url' => $url);

$str = $this->db->insert_string('table_name', $data);

The first parameter is the table name, the second is an associative array with the data to be inserted. The above example produces:

INSERT INTO table_name (name, email, url) VALUES ('Rick', '[email protected]', 'example.com')

$this->db->update_string()

This function simplifies the process of writing database updates. It returns a correctly formatted SQL update string. Example:

$data = array('name' => $name, 'email' => $email, 'url' => $url);

$where = "author_id = 1 AND status = 'active'";

$str = $this->db->update_string('table_name', $data, $where);

The first parameter is the table name, the second is an associative array with the data to be updated, and the third parameter is the “where” clause. The above example produces:

UPDATE table_name SET name = 'Rick', email = '[email protected]', url = 'example.com' WHERE author_id = 1 AND status = 'active'