There are numerous PHP functions for PHP -> Sybase connectivity, documented in
detail in the PHP Manual. However, you only need a few of these functions in
order to make a simple connection and select some data:

sybase_connect - opens a connection to Sybase; requires a server name, username and password.

sybase_db_select - selects a Sybase database.

sybase_query - issues the SQL statement.

sybase_fetch_array - puts a SQL statement result row in an array.

sybase_free_result - frees the resources in use by the current connection.

sybase_close - closes the current connection.

Just for argument's sake, let's pretend that Sybase is already installed on your system, and you have a valid username and password for an existing database. Let's also assume that you've created a table on that database, called COFFEE_INVENTORY. The COFFEE_INVENTORY table has three columns: COFFEE_NAME, ROAST_TYPE and QUANTITY.

The rows in the COFFEE_INVENTORY table could be populated with data such as:

French Roast,dark,18

Kenya,medium,6

Ethiopian Harrar,medium,35

Sumatra,dark,8

Columbian,light,12

Now, let's do some PHP. Before you begin, you must know the name of the server on which the database resides, and have a valid username and password for that server. Then, start your PHP code by creating a connection variable:

Test that a connection was established and if it wasn't, print an error message and exit the program:

If you have made it through the connection test, the next steps are to select the database and create the SQL statement. Suppose that the COFFEE_INVENTORY table exists in a Sybase database called "myDB". First, create a database variable, such as:

Next, test that the database was selected. If it wasn't, print an error message and exit the program:

Up to this point, you've told PHP to connect to a server and select a database. If you've made it this far, you can issue a SQL statement and hopefully see some results! Using the COFFEE_INVENTORY table, suppose you want to view your inventory, including the name of the coffee and the roast type, with the highest number of bags listed first. Create a variable that holds your SQL statement:

Next, create a variable to hold the result of the query, carried out by the sybase_query function. The sybase_query function takes two arguments: the connection and SQL statement variables you've previously created.

To format the results currently held in $sql_result, first separate the results by row, using the sybase_fetch_array function:

The while loop will create an array called $row for each record in the result set. To get the individual elements of the record (COFFEE_NAME, ROAST_TYPE, QUANTITY), create specific variables:

You'll probably want to print the results in a simple HTML table. Step back and place this statement before the while loop begins, to open the table tag and create the row headings:

After defining the variables within the while loop, print them in table format:

The new while loop now looks like this:

After the while loop, close the HTML table:

Finally, you'll want to free up the resources used to perform the query, and close the database connection. Failing to do so could cause memory leaks and other nasty resource-hogging things to occur.

The full script to perform a simple connection and data selection from a Sybase database could look something like this:

Please see the PHP Manual for additional Sybase database functions, and try using your own tables and SQL statements instead of the examples above.