USING PDO & MYSQL to get rows compared and switched to columns - mysql

Question

I have a Products table, an Imprint table, a Manufacturer table and an ingredients table - along with other tables.
I am currently generating information and use what is called "file_name" as the id (it is a FDA assigned 36-40 digit id that goes with each product). What is happening now is people enter of few letters and the autocomplete dropdown provides the exact spelling. When they click SUBMIT and it brings up all entries that match. If they select a generic product it also includes the "brand" product - if they enter a brand it also includes the generic.
The current display is as follows:
Sold by: Sold using Available Chemical name Data based
name Since: on company
report submitted:
C----- Health Lortab 2011-01-13 Hydrocodone Bitartrate etc 2010-12-07
R—Distributors Hydrocodone 2010-02-18 Hydrocodone Bitartrate etc 2009-12-17
Bitartrate
And Acetaminophen
C-- Health Vicodin 1983-01-07 Hydrocodone Bitartrate etc 2009-11-03
R—Distributors Hydrocodone 2010-07-30 Hydrocodone Bitartrate etc 2010-12-28
Bitartrate
And Acetaminophen
This is working fine. I will be adding a check box on the left which will allow up to 3 of the products to be chosen for comparison and additional information.
THE NEXT STEP:
After they check 1, 2 or 3 items, I want to display like this:
"ALL of the versions of the product you checked contain the following ingredients:"
(Those ingredients common to all chosen products).
ACETAMINOPHEN, CELLULOSE, CORN, CROSPOVIDONE, HYDROCODONE BITARTRATE, MICROCRYSTALLINE, STARCH and STEARIC ACID
(Show the ingredients in each product NOT held in common by all.
End result in COLUMNS)
“IN addition, EACH of the products you chose have the following ingredients:"
COLUMN 1(Product 1) COLUMN 2 (Product 2) COLUMN 3 ( Product 3)
COPOVIDONE MAGNESIUM STEARATE CROSCARMELLOSE SODIUM
CROSCARMELLOSE SODIUM POVIDONE D&C YELLOW NO. 10
D&C RED NO. 27 SILICON DIOXIDE FD&C BLUE NO. 1
D&C RED NO. 30 POVIDONE
HYDRATED SILICA SILICON DIOXIDE
MAGNESIUM STEARATE SUCROSE
End of display
Ingredient table: there are 20,000 rows,46 columns. Each row is a different drug and contains the id, file-name and then the ingredients, Each drug (row) has a different combination and number of ingredients. Unused fields are marked "Null";:
Ingredient columns in each row:
id, file_name, 0_gred, 1_gred, 2_gred, 3_gred, 4_gred, 5_gred, 6_gred, 7_gred, 8_gred, 9_gred, 10_gred, 11_gred, 12_gred, 13_gred, 14_gred, 15_gred, 16_gred, 17_gred, 18_gred, 19_gred, 20_gred (etc. up to 43_gred)
The question is how and what approach to use to get the format I need for the ingredients. I have experience in developing registration systems, I am fairly knowledgeable in PHP and am starting to get use to PDO. My Sql experience is minimal and is basically on a "need to know" basis.
I have wondered whether I should focus on a monster of a MySQL query or more on the php side. I thought about a query giving the ingredients common to all 3 and then subtracting that result from each individual drug list to get Part II but that appears to be quite advanced mysql – especially since I need the data to switch from row to COLUMN layout. Any help?
Another idea was to do a query that concatenated the ingredients of each row and then doing array procedures on the php side. Problems, I am having a hard time finding the right code to pull the ingredients out of each row since the number of “NULL” fields compared to “used” fields varies with each row. (How to count null COLUMNS in PDO query? I’ve tried and get the full count of columns in the table.)
To me, this is a braintwister with several steps. I’m looking for the “magic” MySql Code (if it exists) and or suggestions as to what approach (using php, mysql, PDO) you would pursue.
Your interest/help is appreciated!!
Laura

Answer 1

I figured out a php way to do what I needed. I'm sure there is a faster MySql way. If you know of one please share! Laura
First, I set the Mysql empty values to default to "no_ingre".
Then I did the following code 3 times for the 3 choices:
SELECT 'all the ingredient fields WHERE id=$name_of_id'
$result=$stmt->fetch(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
foreach($result as $key => $value) {
if ($value == "no_ingre") unset($result[$key]);
}
FIND THE ingredients COMMON TO ALL:
$same_detect= array_intersect($result, $result2, $result3);
$p_same=(implode(", ", $same_detect));
echo "<br />The below ingredients are in all of the chosen products<br />";
echo $p_same;
To FIND THE ONES NOT COMMON TO ALL: Do the below code 3 times (for each ingredient array):
foreach ($result as $item) {
if (!in_array($item, $same_detect, true)) {
echo ("<tr><td>" . $item . "</td></tr>"); }