MySQLi get results and create key value array [duplicate]

Question

I want to build an array with key-value pairs of MySqli query. What I have so far overwrites array's entries:

$array = array();

    while($row = mysqli_fetch_array($result))
    {
        $difference = abs($base - $row["sql_number"]);
        $array = [$difference => $row["sql_number"]];
        $bar = each($array);
        print_r($bar);
    }

    echo count($array);
    ksort($array);
    echo count($array);

    foreach ($array as $key => $value) {             
        echo "Key: ".$key;
        echo "Value: ". $value;
    }

print_r($bar); prints the key-value pairs correct but I am convinced it is because it just prints the latest entry from the mysqli_fetch_array($result) and the previous entries are overwriten. I want to create such an array then sort it with ksort by the key value.

Answer 1

You were right about your assumptions. Since you have the print_r inside the loop, even though it's replacing the value each time, you are also printing it each time.

This line:

$array = [$difference => $row["sql_number"]];

Should be like this:

$array[$difference] => $row["sql_number"];

That way, you'll keep track of the previous values (keys) and add new ones.

---

This example shows the problem:

$a = array('ok' => 'fine');
$b['ok'] = 'fine';

print_r($a); // Array ( [ok] => fine ) 
echo '<br>';
print_r($b); // Array ( [ok] => fine )
echo '<br><br>';

$a = array('ok2' => 'fine2');
$b['ok2'] = 'fine2';

print_r($a); // Array ( [ok2] => fine2 ) 
echo '<br>';
print_r($b); // Array ( [ok] => fine [ok2] => fine2 ) 
echo '<br><br>';

---

I just feel like mentioning that you CAN'T FORGET that this will override previous differences. In this case, same $row["sql_number"]-s will produce same differences, so it might not be a problem. It's still worth mentioning. Example of this problem:

$b['ok'] = 'fine';
print_r($b); // Array ( [ok] => fine )     

echo '<br><br>';

$b['ok'] = 'fine2';
print_r($b); // Array ( [ok] => fine2 )