替代此 php 脚本的 mysqli_num_rows

Question

I know this has been asked a lot but I can't find no other method that does not relate to num_rows I basically want to see if a record a exist in the database in a if else statement and in other words I don't mind using it but for personal complicated reasons I need to stay away from that because it conflicts on other things I want to add down the road. So this is my code example is there another way to do this with out using mysqli_num_rows?

<?php
$servername='localhost';
$username='angel';
$password='1234';
$db_name='test';

$connect= new mysqli($servername,$username,$password,$db_name);

$query="SELECT*FROM members WHERE first_name='bob'";

$result= $connect->query($query);

if($result->num_rows >0){
echo 'Exist';
}

else{
    echo 'Does not exist';
}
?>

Answer 1

just to fill in the options pool

$query = "SELECT id FROM members WHERE first_name='bob'";

then check you get an id returned; assuming the table has an id column, if not just use another one

Answer 2

You could issue a separate query where all you do is count the results:

$getCount = "SELECT COUNT(*) AS `MemberCount` FROM members WHERE first_name='bob'";

Then use the results to determine your program's path.