looping through php table is not working [Warning: mysql_fetch_assoc() expects parameter 1 to be resource, boolean given]

Question

I am getting this error on my index.php page where i have also included the code

Warning: mysql_fetch_a

Answer 1

You have quoted your table name in single-quote characters, which MySQL interprets as a string literal. You should either use backticks, or no quote characters at all:

$sql = "SELECT * FROM `menulinks`";

This syntax error caused the mysql_query() function to return false, which you can test as follows:

$result = mysql_query($sql) or die(mysql_error());

Also note, as documented in a big red box at the top of the manual page for mysql_query():

Suggested alternatives

Use of this extension is discouraged. Instead, the MySQLi or PDO_MySQL extension should be used. See also MySQL: choosing an API guide and related FAQ for more information. Alternatives to this function include:

• mysqli_query()
• PDO::query()