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MySQL Functions
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# mysql_fetch_field

(PHP 4, PHP 5)

mysql_fetch_field — Get column information from a result and return as an object

Warning

This extension is deprecated as of PHP 5.5.0, and will be removed in the future. Instead, the MySQLi or PDO_MySQL extension should be used. See also MySQL: choosing an API guide and related FAQ for more information. Alternatives to this function include:

- mysqli_fetch_field()
- PDOStatement::getColumnMeta()

### Description

object mysql_fetch_field ( resource `$result` [, int `$field_offset` = 0 ] )

Returns an object containing field information. This function can be used to obtain information about fields in the provided query result.

### Parameters

`result`

  The result resource that is being evaluated. This result comes from a call to mysql_query().

`field_offset`

  The numerical field offset. If the field offset is not specified, the next field that was not yet retrieved by this function is retrieved. The `field_offset` starts at 0.

### Return Values

Returns an object containing field information. The properties of the object are:

- name - column name
- table - name of the table the column belongs to, which is the alias name if one is defined
- max_length - maximum length of the column
- not_null - 1 if the column cannot be `NULL`
- primary_key - 1 if the column is a primary key
- unique_key - 1 if the column is a unique key
- multiple_key - 1 if the column is a non-unique key
- numeric - 1 if the column is numeric
- blob - 1 if the column is a BLOB
- type - the type of the column
- unsigned - 1 if the column is unsigned
- zerofill - 1 if the column is zero-filled

### Examples

Example #1 mysql_fetch_field() example

`<?php
$conn = mysql_connect('localhost', 'mysql_user', 'mysql_password');
if (!$conn) {
die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
}
mysql_select_db('database');
$result = mysql_query('select * from table');
if (!$result) {
die('Query failed: ' . mysql_error());
}
/* get column metadata */
$i = 0;
while ($i < mysql_num_fields($result)) {
echo "Information for column $i:<br />\n";
$meta = mysql_fetch_field($result, $i);
if (!$meta) {
echo "No information available<br />\n";
}
echo "<pre>
blob: $meta->blob
max_length: $meta->max_length
multiple_key: $meta->multiple_key
name: $meta->name
not_null: $meta->not_null
numeric: $meta->numeric
primary_key: $meta->primary_key
table: $meta->table
type: $meta->type
unique_key: $meta->unique_key
unsigned: $meta->unsigned
zerofill: $meta->zerofill
</pre>";
$i++;
}
mysql_free_result($result);
?>`

### Notes

> Note: Field names returned by this function are case-sensitive.

> Note:

> If field or tablenames are aliased in the SQL query the aliased name will be returned. The original name can be retrieved for instance by using mysqli_result::fetch_field().

### See Also

- mysql_field_seek() - Set result pointer to a specified field offset

mysql_fetch_assoc
mysql_fetch_lengths
MySQL Functions
PHP Manual