PHP while loop not showing first item?

Question

I'm just trying to show a basic list or items from my database but for some reason its not showing the first item so if there is only one thing in a category it doesn't show anything but if there's 2 it will show one item. I've added the code below.

query

 //this query will fetch 4 records only!
 $latestVideos = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM table ORDER BY date DESC LIMIT 5")or die(mysql_error());

 $posts = mysql_fetch_array($latestVideos);

While loop

 while($posts = mysql_fetch_array($latestVideos)){

 $dateFormat= $posts['video_date'];
 $newDate=date('d-m-Y',strtotime($dateFormat));

 echo $posts['video_title']
 echo $newDate;
 echo $posts['video_embed'];
 }

score 8 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 09 '13 at 20:15

8

mysql_fetch_array is used to return a row of the array at each iteration of the while loop.

The extra mysql_fetch_array takes the first row into post, and in the first iteration of the while loop it puts the second row into the post.

This is what you should be doing.

$latestVideos = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM table ORDER BY date DESC LIMIT 5")or die(mysql_error());

 while($posts = mysql_fetch_array($latestVideos)){
 //do stuff here
 }

answered Mar 09 '13 at 20:15

Anurag Ramdasan

4,189
4
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so could i just do $posts = $latestVideos ? – huddds Mar 09 '13 at 20:17
Thanks a lot, that's been bugging me for a while – huddds Mar 09 '13 at 20:24

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 09 '13 at 20:18

3

It looks like the first time you call "$posts = mysql_fetch_array($latestVideos);" the first row is retrieved and removed from $latestVideos. and the while loop then loops through the other rows.

answered Mar 09 '13 at 20:18

Sy Holloway

419
4
5

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 09 '13 at 20:18

2

You are fetching once with the mysql_fetch_array, but then not using the results. You're reading the first row and then throwing it away.

$posts = mysql_fetch_array(...); # Reads 1st row
while ( $post = mysql_fetch_array() ) { # reads 2nd-Nth row
}

answered Mar 09 '13 at 20:18

Andy Lester

91,102
13
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PHP while loop not showing first item?

3 Answers3