Php sql query builder

Question

For a client i am working on a mysql php database with a web interface, and i need to have a section where they can build reports and save them. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how i got about doing this with a table that has 3 or 4 joins on it? And what is the best way to build pdfs with php?

I mean about in terms of displaying to the user and what questions to ask - I was thinking about the office access query wizard and maybe doing something like that. Asking what fields they want to display, what order etc. I was just looking for decent ways to do that and how.

Thank you for the two suggestions for PDF writing, I will look into them.

Answer 1

To generate pdf's in php I use fpdf . It's easy, free, and more functional than some of the alternatives. For more help with the rest of your question I'd really need more information.

Answer 2

There are some pretty decent PDF Libraries available in PHP...TCPDF is pretty easy to use to take HTML and render/output as a PDF.

As far as your question about the database, if the tables are always going to have the same 3 or 4 tables joined, I typically put the table name or alias in front of the field name. If I'm using a multi-select to allow users to select the field, I'd do:

    <option value="mytable.first_name">First Name</option>

I'm obviously making a lot of assumptions here, it'll be harder if there's a variable number of joins because you'll have to manage the tables and the join conditions and apply them when appropriate. If I had to handle a variable number of joins, I'd probably create an array with join conditions; loop through all the fields I have selected above and pull the tables out. Then use the tables in my join array to fetch out the join on directives.