Database results as objects or arrays?

Question

This question is similar to Mysql results in PHP - arrays or objects? However, my question expands on what has been discussed there.

I\'m trying to decide which form

Answer 1

I think you are talking about weird objects coming up using SELECT on two or more tables.

I solve this by using AS in my sql to give it a more simple name.

SELECT IFNULL(SUM(table2.big_name),0) AS sumBig

...


$result=$PDO->fetchObject();
$sum=$result->sumBig;

Answer 2

I've always used objects - but I don't put the data in directly from the query. Using 'set' functions I create the layout and so avoid issues with joins and naming collisions. In the case of your 'full_name' example I would probably use 'as' to get the name parts, set each in the object and offer 'get_full_name' as a member fn.

If you were feeling ambitious you could add all sorts of things to 'get_age'. Set the birth date once and go wild from there.

EDIT: There are several ways to make objects out of your data. You can predefine the class and create objects or you can create them 'on the fly'.

--> Some v simplified examples -- if this isn't sufficient I can add more.

on the fly:

$conn = DBConnection::_getSubjectsDB();  
$query = "select * from studies where Status = 1";  
$st = $conn->prepare( $query );  

$st->execute();  
$rows = $st->fetchAll();  
foreach ( $rows as $row )  
{  
    $study = (object)array();  
    $study->StudyId = $row[ 'StudyId' ];  
    $study->Name = $row[ 'StudyName' ];  
    $study->Investigator = $row[ 'Investigator' ];  
    $study->StartDate = $row[ 'StartDate' ];  
    $study->EndDate = $row[ 'EndDate' ];  
    $study->IRB = $row[ 'IRB' ];  

    array_push( $ret, $study );  
} 

predefined:

/** Single location info
*/
class Location  
{  
    /** Name  
    * @var string  
    */  
    public $Name;  

    /** Address  
    * @var string  
    */  
    public $Address;  

    /** City  
    * @var string  
    */  
    public $City;

    /** State
    * @var string
    */
    public $State;

    /** Zip
    * @var string
    */
    public $Zip;

    /** getMailing
    * Get a 'mailing label' style output
    */
    function getMailing()
    {  
         return $Name . "\n" . $Address . "\n" . $City . "," . $State . "  " . $Zip;
    }
}

usage:

$conn = DBConnection::_getLocationsDB();  
$query = "select * from Locations where Status = 1";  
$st = $conn->prepare( $query );  

$st->execute();  
$rows = $st->fetchAll();  
foreach ( $rows as $row )  
{  
    $location = new Location();  
    $location->Name= $row[ 'Name' ];  
    $location->Address = $row[ 'Address ' ];  
    $location->City = $row[ 'City' ];  
    $location->State = $row[ 'State ' ];  
    $location->Zip = $row[ 'Zip ' ];  

    array_push( $ret, $location );  
} 

Then later you can loop over $ret and output mailing labels:

foreach( $ret as $location )
{ 
    echo $location->getMailing();
}

Answer 3

It’s preference at the end of the day. Personally, I prefer objects. Although CakePHP uses arrays for results using the “object” name as the array key. However, things start to get funny when you fetch related records in CakePHP.

With your problem, you could simply have objects within objects. For example:

stdClass Object
(
    [id] => 1
    [title] => Article Title
    [published] => 2013-03-04 16:30:00
    [category] => stdClass Object
        (
            [id] => 1
            [name] => Category Name
        )

)

You can then display associated data in your views as follows:

<?php echo $article->category->name; ?>

Or if you use getters and setters:

<?php echo $article->getCategory()->getName(); ?>

There’s no right or wrong answer. As I say, it’s all personal preference.

Answer 4

I think its better to represent all of your datas and its type in form of Model. For both joined and singular objects. Doing so will always omit your problem.

class Member_Details {
    public $id;    
    public $first_name;
    public $last_name;

    public function FullName() {
         return $this -> first_name." ".$this -> last_name;
    }
}

class Member_Address {
    public $id;
    public $address;
    public $city;
}

class MemberJoins {
     public $objects = array();
}

After creating such classes you can configures a JOIN in the following way.

$obj_details = new Member_Details();
$obj_address = new Member_Address();
//Add data to the objects and then

//Then create the join object
$obj_address_details = new MemberJoins();
$obj_address_details -> objects = array($obj_details, $obj_address);

These both have a common property id from which its data can be linked.