Email already exists in database Codeigniter

Question

Hey :) So I'm trying to check if an user has already registered or not with their email address. The email is a unique field in the database. The problem I am having is when I am checking it, (if the email exists in the table it will return false and a message will be send to the user), num_rows() always returns false even if the email entered does not exist in the table;

I don't know if there is a problem with the post, but if I comment out the email part and register, it will work and if the email is a duplicate, the 1062 error will show.

the model funtion checkEmail()

$email_address = $this->input->post('email');
    $this->db->where('email', $email_address);
    $result = $this->db->get('user');

    if($result->num_rows() > 0){
        /*
         * the email already exists
         * */
        return false;
    }

and the controller:

$checkEmail = $this->f_model->checkEmail();

    if(!$checkEmail){
        /*
         * if email exists
         * */
        $msg = '<font color=red>Email already registered.</font><br />';
        $this->register($msg);
    }
    else {

        $interest = $this->f_model->enter_register_details_01();
        if(!$interest) {

            $msg = '<font color=red>Password and Confirm Password do not match.</font><br />';
            $this->register($msg);
        }
        else {
            $data['msg'] = $msg;
            $this->load->view("registration_view_02", array('interest' => $interest,
                'message' => $data));
        }

    }

even if the table is empty, the message with "Email already registered" appears

Thank for your help.

Answer 1

in checkEmail() function add an else statement

$email_address = $this->input->post('email');
$this->db->where('email', $email_address);
$result = $this->db->get('user');

if($result->num_rows() > 0){
    /*
     * the email already exists
     *
    */
    return false;
}else{
    return true;
}