Output table formatting

PHP
1

Hi guys,

Im trying to figure out how i can display a query result without displaying the same info twice.

Lets say i have a DB with 2 tables. Table1 & Table2.
TABLE 1
customer_id l company_name l address l

TABLE 2
id l equip_id l hardware l expiry l

The ‘customer’ and ‘id’ field are the primary keys. ‘equip_id’ and ‘customer_id’ are the same. So a customer is listed in table 1 but all their hardware is listd in table 2 and item per row, so there will be multiple equip_id’s of the same value for each customer.

I’ve got my query working great thanks to help from this forum but i can seem to format the output how i want.

im after:
company_name
_____________hardware l expiry
_____________hardware l expiry
company_name
_____________hardware l expiry
_____________hardware l expiry

and so on…
this is what i have now but it lists the company name for every hardware item.


<?php   QUERY HERE    ?>
	<table id="cust_table">
	<th>Company</th>
	<th>Manufacturer</th>
	<th>Description</th>
	<th>Expiry Date</th>
	<?php
		if ($num_rows < 1) {
				echo "No match found! Please go back and try again.";
			} else {
		while ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)) {
	?>
	<tr>
		<td><?php echo $row['company_name']; ?></td>
		<td><?php echo $row['manufacturer']; ?></td>
		<td><?php echo $row['description']; ?></td>
		<td><?php echo $row['end_date']; ?></td>
	</tr>
	<?php
	}
	}
	?>
	</table>
2

Use a variable to store the current company name (starting with ‘’). Inside the loop, check if the company name has changed. If so, display it and store it in the variable.

3

Sort of makes sense but a little over my head…

Any examples?

Appreciate the response.

Thanks.
Mark

4 

    // initialize the 'company name storage' variable
    $companyname = '';
    while ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)) {
?>
     <tr>
         <td>
<?php 
            // check if the company name has to be displayed
            if ($row['company_name'] != $companyname) {
               echo $row['company_name']; 
               $companyname = $row['company_name']; 
            }
?>
         </td>
         <td><?php echo $row['manufacturer']; ?></td>
         <td><?php echo $row['description']; ?></td>
         <td><?php echo $row['end_date']; ?></td>
     </tr>
<?php
     }
5

appreciate it, works a treat.

Many thanks.

6

More accurate formatting:


<?php
// initialize the 'company name storage' variable
$companyname = '';
while ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)) {
    ?>
     <tr>
    <?php 
        // check if the company name has to be displayed
        if ($row['company_name'] != $companyname) {?>
           <td colspan="3"><?php echo $row['company_name']; ?></td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
           <?php $companyname = $row['company_name']; 
        }
    ?>
     <td><?php echo $row['manufacturer']; ?></td>
     <td><?php echo $row['description']; ?></td>
     <td><?php echo $row['end_date']; ?></td>
    </tr>
    <?php
     }
?>