php mysql group by date with yyyy-mm-dd format - mysql

Question

I had a mysql table called events with the fields: id, date, and name.
The date field has the format yyyy-mm-dd hh::mm:ss edit: meaning it is in datetime format
I want to group the events by day, and I wasn't sure how to approach this- is there a way to select only the month and day from the field? or should i use PHP after I select all the "events"
my end goal is to have something like this:
March 10th:
event1,
event2
March 11th:
event4,
event5
I found MySQL select using datetime, group by date only but I'm not sure how to implement it:
SELECT DATE_FORMAT(date, '%H%i'), DATE_FORMAT(date, '%M %D'), name FROM events ORDER BY date
Thanks!
EDIT:
ended up using this:
$sql = "select team1, team2, DATE_FORMAT(date,'%Y-%m-%d') as created_day FROM games WHERE attack = '1' GROUP BY created_day";
$result = mysql_query($sql);
$curDate = "";
while (list($team1, $team2, $date) = mysql_fetch_row($result))
{
if ($date != $curDate)
{
echo "$date --------\n";
$curDate = $date;
}
echo "game data: $team1 $team2";
}

Answer 1

If you use group by you will not get one row out of it. So the way you want is not possible through Group By AFAIK.
$query = "SELECT distinct(DATE_FORMAT(date, '%M %D')) as d FROM yourtable";
$result = mysql_query($query);
while($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)) {
echo $row['d']
$sql = "SELECT * FROM yourtable WHERE DATE_FORMAT(date, '%M %D')='$row[d]'";
$rs = mysql_query($query);
while($r = mysql_fetch_assoc($rs)) {
echo "event";
}
}

Answer 2

You should indeed use php to get this done. But since most of current system sepate logic from display, I'd use only one pass and not (NUMBER OF DAYS + 1) SELECTs, and prepare an array that I can reuse later for my display.
$query = "SELECT DATE_FORMAT(date, '%M %D') as d, name FROM yourtable ORDER BY date";
$foo=array();
$result = mysql_query($query);
while($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)) {
//some logic to test if it's safe to add the name
$foo[$row['d']][]=$row['name'];
}
And then when i'd need it (through a template or your "view")
foreach($foo as $date => $events) {
echo $date . ":\n\t";
echo implode(",\n\t", $events);
echo "\n";
}
so it fits the format you set to yourself.
Hope that helped

Answer 3

I think from that question/answer, you can get something like this instead
March 10th, event1
March 10th, event2
March 11th, event4
March 11th, event5
It does not really 'group' dates as your wish but I think you can use php to continue from this result.

Answer 4

I agree with Kharaone, separate logic from display. That being said, I think that something similar to this query might be what you are looking for:
SELECT A FROM
(
SELECT DATE_FORMAT(date,'%M %D:') AS A, DATE(date) AS B, 1 AS C FROM games GROUP BY DATE(date)
UNION ALL
SELECT name AS A, DATE(date) AS B, 2 AS C FROM games
) X
ORDER BY B, C ASC;