PHP MySQL Create Tables

In this tutorial you will learn how to create tables in MySQL database using PHP.

Creating Tables inside MySQL Database Using PHP

In the previous chapter we've learned how to create a database on MySQL server. Now it's time to create some tables inside the database that will actually hold the data. A table organizes the information into rows and columns.

The SQL CREATE TABLE statement is used to create a table in database.

Let's make a SQL query using the CREATE TABLE statement, after that we will execute this SQL query through passing it to the PHP mysqli_query() function to finally create our table.

Example

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<?php
/* Attempt MySQL server connection. Assuming you are running MySQL
server with default setting (user 'root' with no password) */
$link = mysqli_connect("localhost", "root", "", "demo");
 
// Check connection
if($link === false){
    die("ERROR: Could not connect. " . mysqli_connect_error());
}
 
// Attempt create table query execution
$sql = "CREATE TABLE persons(
    id INT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY AUTO_INCREMENT,
    first_name VARCHAR(30) NOT NULL,
    last_name VARCHAR(30) NOT NULL,
    email VARCHAR(70) NOT NULL UNIQUE
)";
if(mysqli_query($link, $sql)){
    echo "Table created successfully.";
} else{
    echo "ERROR: Could not able to execute $sql. " . mysqli_error($link);
}
 
// Close connection
mysqli_close($link);
?>

<?php
/* Attempt MySQL server connection. Assuming you are running MySQL
server with default setting (user 'root' with no password) */
$mysqli = new mysqli("localhost", "root", "", "demo");
 
// Check connection
if($mysqli === false){
    die("ERROR: Could not connect. " . $mysqli->connect_error);
}
 
// Attempt create table query execution
$sql = "CREATE TABLE persons(
    id INT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY AUTO_INCREMENT,
    first_name VARCHAR(30) NOT NULL,
    last_name VARCHAR(30) NOT NULL,
    email VARCHAR(70) NOT NULL UNIQUE
)";
if($mysqli->query($sql) === true){
    echo "Table created successfully.";
} else{
    echo "ERROR: Could not able to execute $sql. " . $mysqli->error;
}
 
// Close connection
$mysqli->close();
?>

<?php
/* Attempt MySQL server connection. Assuming you are running MySQL
server with default setting (user 'root' with no password) */
try{
    $pdo = new PDO("mysql:host=localhost;dbname=demo", "root", "");
    // Set the PDO error mode to exception
    $pdo->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);
} catch(PDOException $e){
    die("ERROR: Could not connect. " . $e->getMessage());
}
 
// Attempt create table query execution
try{
    $sql = "CREATE TABLE persons(
        id INT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY AUTO_INCREMENT,
        first_name VARCHAR(30) NOT NULL,
        last_name VARCHAR(30) NOT NULL,
        email VARCHAR(70) NOT NULL UNIQUE
    )";    
    $pdo->exec($sql);
    echo "Table created successfully.";
} catch(PDOException $e){
    die("ERROR: Could not able to execute $sql. " . $e->getMessage());
}
 
// Close connection
unset($pdo);
?>

The PHP code in the above example creates a table named persons with four columns id, first_name, last_name and email inside the demo database.

Notice that each field name is followed by a data type declaration; this declaration specifies what type of data the column can hold, whether integer, string, date, etc.

There are a few additional constraints (also called modifiers) that are specified after the column name in the preceding SQL statement, like NOT NULL, PRIMARY KEY, AUTO_INCREMENT, etc. Constraints define rules regarding the values allowed in columns.

Please check out the tutorial on SQL CREATE TABLE statement for the detailed information about syntax, as well as the data types and constraints available in MySQL database system.

Note: Any number of line breaks may occur within a SQL statement, provided that any line break does not break off keywords, values, expression, etc.

Tip: Setting the PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE attribute to PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION tells PDO to throw exceptions whenever a database error occurs.

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PHP MySQL Create Tables

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