Check result of MySql count with if/else statement

Question

Right, here's my code that limits the form submit rate. When the form is submitted it takes the timestamp and IP address, and then on page load this I have a SQL statement that takes the users IP, counts how many times it appears in the database in the past hour, and if it is 2 then the post box isn't displayed, else, it is, the problem is that it doesn't quite work, it just keeps showing the post box no matter what. Here's the code:

<?php

$IP = $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
$sql = "select count(*) from mysql_table where ip='$IP' and timestamp > (DATE_ADD(now(), INTERVAL -1 HOUR))"; 
$result = mysql_query($sql) or print mysql_error();

if ($result['count(*)'] == 2) {
die('You are out of posts this hour.');
}

else {
?>

<font style="position:relative; margin: 0 auto; top:15px; color:#fff; font-size:16px; font-family:Arial;">Note, once you have posted, it <b>CANNOT</b> be removed.</font>
<div id="postbox">
<form method="post" action="<?php echo $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']; ?>">
<textarea id="postbox" name="postbox"></textarea><br />
<input type="checkbox" name="allowcommenting" value="1" id="commenting" CHECKED ><font style="margin-right:45px; font-family:Arial; font-size:18px; color:#fff; position:relative; top:15px;">Allow commenting?</font>
<?php
            require_once 'math-security.php';

            $math = new BasicMathSecurity( 'math' );
            echo $math->getField();
?>
<input type="submit" name="submit" id="submit" value="Share" value="This cannot be undone." />
</form>
</div>

<?php
}
?>

Answer 1

The $result does not yet contain the count in this case. You must first fetch the resulting row from the resultset of the query, then you can compare.

$sql = "select count(*) from mysql_table where ip='$IP' and timestamp > (DATE_ADD(now(), INTERVAL -1 HOUR))"; 
$result = mysql_query($sql) or print mysql_error();
if($row = mysql_fetch_row($result)) {
   if ($row[0] == 2) {
      die('You are out of posts this hour.');
   }
}

Answer 2

Use mysql_fetch_assoc($result) or mysql_fetch_array($result) Here is one example:

$query = 'SELECT count(*) FROM '.$table;
$result = mysql_query($query);
$res = mysql_fetch_array($result);
echo "Count - ".$res[0];exit;