Numbering Query Output Rows Sequentially

11.19.1 Problem

You want to number query output rows.

11.19.2 Solution

If you're writing your own program, just add the row number yourself.

11.19.3 Discussion

A type of sequence that has nothing to do with the contents of your database is to number output rows from a query. When working within an API, you can number the rows by maintaining a counter and displaying its current value with each row's contents. Here is an example in Python, using the insects table. It simply displays a numbered list of the distinct values in the origin column of the table:

cursor = conn.cursor ( )
cursor.execute ("SELECT DISTINCT origin FROM insect")
count = 1
while 1:
 row = cursor.fetchone ( )
 if row == None:
 break
 print count, row[0]
 count = count + 1
cursor.close ( )

11.19.4 See Also

The mysql program provides no explicit row-numbering facilities, although you can use a SQL variable to include an extra row number column in a query's output. Another way to produce results that may be suitable for your purposes is to filter mysql output through another program that adds row numbers. These techniques are described in Recipe 1.27.

Using the mysql Client Program

Writing MySQL-Based Programs

Record Selection Techniques

Working with Strings

Working with Dates and Times

Sorting Query Results

Generating Summaries

Modifying Tables with ALTER TABLE

Obtaining and Using Metadata

Importing and Exporting Data

Generating and Using Sequences

Using Multiple Tables

Statistical Techniques

Handling Duplicates

Performing Transactions

Introduction to MySQL on the Web

Incorporating Query Resultsinto Web Pages

Processing Web Input with MySQL

Using MySQL-Based Web Session Management

Appendix A. Obtaining MySQL Software

Appendix B. JSP and Tomcat Primer

Appendix C. References



MySQL Cookbook
MySQL Cookbook
ISBN: 059652708X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 412
Authors: Paul DuBois

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