PHP MySQLi Query within Prepared Statement

Question

I'm in the process of updating from MySQL to MySQLi and have come across an issue I'm not sure how to handle with MySQLi/prepared statements.

In my previous code, I had a query within a query:

while ($record = mysql_fetch_array($result)) 
{
    //CLEAR VARIABLES
    $REMINDER_TIME = '';
    $REMINDER_USER_ID = '';

    //STORE DATA
    $REMINDER_TIME = $record['REMINDER_TIME'];
    $REMINDER_USER_ID = $record['USER_ID'];

    //LOCALIZE TIMES    
    $REMINDER_TIME = new DateTime($REMINDER_TIME);
    $REMINDER_TIME->setTimeZone(new DateTimeZone($user_timezone));

    //GET USER NAME
    $result1 = mysql_query("SELECT FIRST_NAME, LAST_NAME, EMAIL FROM TABLE_users WHERE USER_ID='$REMINDER_USER_ID'");

    while ($record1 = mysql_fetch_array($result1)) 
    {
        //CLEAR VARIABLES
        $REMINDER_USER_FIRST = '';
        $REMINDER_USER_LAST = '';
        $REMINDER_USER_EMAIL = '';

        //STORE DATA
        $REMINDER_USER_FIRST = $record1['FIRST_NAME'];
        $REMINDER_USER_LAST = $record1['LAST_NAME'];
        $REMINDER_USER_EMAIL = $record1['EMAIL'];
    }

    $tableRow .= '<tr>
                 <td class="tall">'.$REMINDER_TIME->format('F j, Y').'<br />'.$REMINDER_TIME->format('g:ia T').'</a></td>
                 <td class="tall">'.$REMINDER_USER_FIRST.' '.$REMINDER_USER_LAST.'<br />('.$REMINDER_USER_EMAIL.')</td>
                 </tr>';
}

However, with my prepared statements, I'm not sure how to run a query within a query:

$result = $stmt -> get_result();

while ($row = $result -> fetch_array(MYSQLI_ASSOC))
{
    //CLEAR VARIABLES
    $REMINDER_TIME = '';
    $REMINDER_USER_ID = '';

    //STORE DATA
    $REMINDER_TIME = $row['REMINDER_TIME'];
    $REMINDER_USER_ID = $row['USER_ID'];

    //LOCALIZE TIMES    
    $REMINDER_TIME = new DateTime($REMINDER_TIME);
    $REMINDER_TIME->setTimeZone(new DateTimeZone($user_timezone));

    //_____QUERY WOULD GO HERE_____

    $tableRow .=    '<tr>
    <td class="tall">'.$REMINDER_TIME->format('F j, Y').'<br />'.$REMINDER_TIME->format('g:ia T').'</a></td>
    <td class="tall">'.$REMINDER_USER_FIRST.' '.$REMINDER_USER_LAST.'<br />('.$REMINDER_USER_EMAIL.')</td>
    </tr>';
}

$stmt->close();

Is it possible to do this with prepared statements? I basically need to hit the database to get data in a secondary query based on values received during the first query. Thank you!

Answer 1

Executing queries inside a loop is a bad practice and should be avoided, because of performance issues.

Given the code and query you posted, I suggest you to modify your first sql statement:

SELECT a.REMINDER_TIME, a.USER_ID, b.FIRST_NAME, b.LAST_NAME, b.EMAIL
FROM TABLE_logs_reminders a
LEFT JOIN table_users b on a.user_id = b.user_id
WHERE REQUEST_ID=?
ORDER BY a.REMINDER_TIME

This will fetch the data you need, in one single request, avoiding several calls to your DBMS. Then, in your php code, you can access the user columns without a new query:

//_____QUERY WOULD GO HERE_____
// No need for a query
$REMINDER_USER_FIRST = $record1['FIRST_NAME'];
$REMINDER_USER_LAST = $record1['LAST_NAME'];
$REMINDER_USER_EMAIL = $record1['EMAIL'];

There are some good tutorials about joins you should read.