Newbie needs help with Basic Sorting - How do I group items using say an id tag?

Greetings - I am a absolute newbie to PHP/MySQL and would appreciate kickstart help.

I have attempted a tutorial presented at DMX Zone but failed to make it work. You may care to see what I mean by looking at their site. I will add the link details once this posting has been accepted by your forum.

Here is my scenario
Basic Setup:

Database: MySQL
id Name
0 Fruit
1 Banana
1 Pineapple
1 Kiwi Fruit
1 Apples
0 Vegetable
6 Tomatoes
6 Peas
6 Carrots


Output required:
Fruit
Apples
Banana
Kiwi Fruit
Pineapple
Vegetable
Carrots
Peas
Tomatoes

Requirement:
Depending on the designated id, all items starting with 0 should display as bold category headings listed in alphbetical order and all associated products matching that category would be listed - also in alphabetical order.

Ultimately I will be changing the id column to a specific Products Part No. but the above example is consistant with the DMX Zones example and is simple (hopefully) to illustrate how I may achieve the desired output.

A working code sample - or suggested tutorial sites would be greatfully received

Thanks in anticipation


PS. I'm using Dreamweaver 8 / PHP / MySQL (latest versions)

GROUP BY
in the database command.

Thanks - can you give me a sample script for same? Please.

Check out the tutorial I started with at DMXZone at (all one line address):

http://www.dmxzone.com/showDetail.asp?
d=2&NewsId=4937

I'm a newbie and have followed the tutorial but DW8 seems to generate different code to that displayed. I presume there is an error here somewhere but I don't know enough to work in out myself.

A little personal coaching / mentorship would be greately received.

Thanks heaps

Dont use dreamweaver, it doesnt handle dynamic code well. Thats where your going wrong, hand code it in an editor such as crimson editor.

To download it go to www.downloads.com then put crimson editor in the search box.

Really your database is not optimally formed. Here is my immediate reaction for db MYSQL:

Code: Select all

 Table items
ID  Item
1    Carrot
2    Apple
3    Orange
4    Banana
5    Broccoli
6    Squash

 Table groups
1    Fruit
2    Vegetable

 Table key_id
group_id  2         item_id  1
             1                     2
             1                     3
             1                     4
             2                     5
             2                     6

MySQL Query: Select * from items, groups WHERE key_id.group_id=groups.id AND key_id.item_id=item.id GROUP BY key_id.group_id DESC

I think that's right. I always use table names because I'll use the same column names, that is, I'll have group_id to designate the id of a group entry and group_id in the key table. Here I just used "id" but there's still an identically named column in two tables.

Mason, the group by clause is wrong in the code you have posted. You need to include EVERY non aggregate column from the select clause in the group by clause. Failing to do so in any other database except mysql will result in an error and the code won't produce a result. Mysql warns in their manual about GROUP BY HIDDEN FIELDS and that it can produce incorrect results.