[protocode]

The page I'm writing has a query that pulls from three tables. That part is done correctly. Now, I need to list the queried info in a table, so I used a while loop.

For the ease of the reader I wanted to set the table up in a very specific manner, and that's where the problem comes in.

PHP Code:

require('./Connections/db.php');



$pull = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM table1, table2, table3 WHERE table1.field1 = table2.field1_2 AND table2.field3 = table3.field2_4 AND table1.field5 = '$var1' ORDER BY table3.field6, table3.field7, table3.field8");



while ($stored = mysql_fetch_array( $pull ); 

All of the desired information is pulled and ordered correctly, but I'm looking to make the display/layout of said info in a hierarchical format. Meaning I need to show the value of table3.field6 once and all of the info therefrom continuously until it is finished, then move onto the next value for table3.field6.

Visually the information should be like this

TABLE3.FIELD6_1ST VALUE
OUTPUT_1ST VALUE_ROW1_INFO_A
OUTPUT_1ST VALUE_ROW2_INFO_B
ETC...

TABLE3.FIELD6_2ND VALUE
OUTPUT_2ND VALUE_ROW3_INFO_A
OUTPUT_2ND VALUE_ROW4_INFO_B
ETC...

What I get right now is

TABLE3.FIELD6_1ST VALUE OUTPUT_1ST VALUE_ROW1_INFO_A
TABLE3.FIELD6_1ST VALUE OUTPUT_1ST VALUE_ROW2_INFO_B
TABLE3.FIELD6_2ND VALUE OUTPUT_2ND VALUE_ROW3_INFO_A
TABLE3.FIELD6_2ND VALUE OUTPUT_2ND VALUE_ROW4_INFO_B

It displays the value of Table3.field6 with each row output. Should I be using a 'for' statement or stick with 'while' or a combination of the two?

Thank you in advance.

[UnrealEd]

have you tried adding the DISTINCT modifier to your query? like this:

Code:

SELECT DISTINCT table3.field6, * FROM table1, table2, table3 WHERE table1.field1 = table2.field1_2 AND table2.field3 = table3.field2_4 AND table1.field5 = '$var1' ORDER BY table3.field6, table3.field7, table3.field8

[Pat Phelan]

What you are trying to do is called group supression, and it is very difficult to do at the database level compared to doing it at the application level. The simple answer is to hold a copy of the column(s) that you want to suprress, and only echo the values when they are different than in the previous row.

-PatP