Dumping a MySQL Table

Here is a way to view all the content of a MySQL table, even without access to phpMyAdmin or similar software. Actually, it's so easy you might even prefer it.

This is not a well-formatted dump, though. It's meant as a quick 'n dirty for a quick review of the table contents.

This will dump the entire database into the browser window, one row at a time:

<?php
/* Identification */
$MySQL_hostname = 'localhost';
$MySQL_username = 'user_name';
$MySQL_password = 'password';
$MySQL_database = 'database_name';
$MySQL_table    = 'table_name';

/* Connecting and selecting */
if(! $MySQL = @mysql_connect($MySQL_hostname,$MySQL_username,$MySQL_password))
   { echo('Unable to connect to the database server: ' . mysql_error()); }
if(! @mysql_select_db($MySQL_database))
   { echo("Unable to select database $MySQL_database: " . mysql_error()); }

/* Dumping */
if( $result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM $MySQL_table") )
{
   echo('<pre>');
   while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result))
   {
      print_r($row);
      echo("\n= - = - = - = - = - = - =\n\n");
   }
   echo('</pre>');
}
else { echo("There are no records in table $MySQL_table."); }
?>

Each database row is dumped as an array with function print_r().

Will Bontrager