How do I display a message when database query returns no results?

Question

I have this code:

<?php

$platform_id = 7;
$query="SELECT * FROM game WHERE game_id IN (SELECT game_id FROM game_platform WHERE platform_id=".$platform_id.") AND game_release BETWEEN '2015-08-01' AND '2015-08-31' ORDER BY game_release";

$result=mysqli_query($link,$query) or die (mysqli_error());


        echo"<table border=1>
        <tr>
            <th width=40px>Day</th>
            <th width=270px>Title</th>
            <th width=203px>Genre</th>
            <th width=203px>Developer</th>
            <th width=205px>Publisher</th>
            <th width=61px>Retail?</th>
            <th width=30px height=30px></th>
            <th width=104px>Note</th>
        </tr>";

        while($row=mysqli_fetch_assoc($result))
       {
        echo"
        <tr>
            <td> ". (new DateTime($row['game_release']))->format("j") ." </td>
            <td>{$row['game_name']}</td>

            <td>";
            $query="SELECT * FROM genre WHERE genre_id=".$row['game_genre']; 
            $genreresult=mysqli_query($link,$query);                                    $genrerow=mysqli_fetch_assoc($genreresult);
        echo $genrerow['genre_name'];
        echo "</td>
            <td>{$row['game_dev']}</td>
            <td>{$row['game_pub']}</td>
            <td>{$row['game_type']}</td>
            <td><a href=\"{$row['game_site']}\" target=\"_blank\"><img src=\"images/officialwebsite.png\" title=\"Official website\"/></a>
                <a href=\"{$row['game_trailer']}\" target=\"_blank\"><img src=\"images/youtube.png\" title=\"Trailer\"/></a></td>
            <td>{$row['game_note']}</td>
        </tr>";


       }

       echo"</table>";
?>

I want to show a message when there are no releases in said month, because right now I get an empty table which is not really user-friendly nor visually attractive.

I found this code on this site, but I get a syntax error due to .isEmpty.

<?php

$platform_id = 7;
$query="SELECT * FROM game WHERE game_id IN (SELECT game_id FROM game_platform WHERE platform_id=".$platform_id.") AND game_release BETWEEN '2015-08-01' AND '2015-08-31' ORDER BY game_release";

$result=mysqli_query($link,$query) or die (mysqli_error());


        echo"<table border=1>
        <tr>
            <th width=40px>Day</th>
            <th width=270px>Title</th>
            <th width=203px>Genre</th>
            <th width=203px>Developer</th>
            <th width=205px>Publisher</th>
            <th width=61px>Retail?</th>
            <th width=30px height=30px></th>
            <th width=104px>Note</th>
        </tr>";

        if($result.isEmpty())
        echo "Unfortunately there are no releases this month!";

        else
        {

        while($row=mysqli_fetch_assoc($result))
        {
        echo"
        <tr>
            <td> ". (new DateTime($row['game_release']))->format("j") ." </td>
            <td>{$row['game_name']}</td>

            <td>";
            $query="SELECT * FROM genre WHERE genre_id=".$row['game_genre']; 
            $genreresult=mysqli_query($link,$query);                                    $genrerow=mysqli_fetch_assoc($genreresult);
        echo $genrerow['genre_name'];
        echo "</td>
            <td>{$row['game_dev']}</td>
            <td>{$row['game_pub']}</td>
            <td>{$row['game_type']}</td>
            <td><a href=\"{$row['game_site']}\" target=\"_blank\"><img src=\"images/officialwebsite.png\" title=\"Official website\"/></a>
                <a href=\"{$row['game_trailer']}\" target=\"_blank\"><img src=\"images/youtube.png\" title=\"Trailer\"/></a></td>
            <td>{$row['game_note']}</td>
        </tr>";


       }
       }

       echo"</table>";
       ?>

I kept reading and there doesn't seem to be another way, because while-loops don't have 'else's?

How can I solve this? Thanks!

Check echo" <tr> <td> ". (new DateTime($row['game_release']))->format("j") ." </td> <td>{$row['game_name']}</td> <td>"; Its having syntax error. — Dhruvisha
– Dhruvisha, Commented Apr 11, 2015 at 11:33
It's working fine though. I'm not saying there can't be any mistakes in the code, because I'm learning every day, but could you please explain which error you've spotted? — Michael
– Michael, Commented Apr 11, 2015 at 11:35

jeroen · Accepted Answer · 2015-04-11 11:30:13Z

4

You seem to be mixing javascript and php as .isEmpty() is not a php function.

You need to check the row count before you display your table, so something like:

$result=mysqli_query($link,$query) or die (mysqli_error());
if (mysqli_num_rows($result) > 0) {
   // your table generation code
} else {
  echo "Unfortunately there are no releases this month!";
}

answered Apr 11, 2015 at 11:30

jeroen

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1 Comment

Michael Over a year ago

Yes I did. This worked, thank you. I'm learning web developing on my own and indeed have some trouble when working with multiple languages at the same time.

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