How can you negate the result of a query in MySQL when filtering for specific column values?

When filtering for specific column values in a MySQL query, you can negate the result by using the NOT operator before the condition you want to exclude. This allows you to retrieve rows that do not match the specified column values. Here is an example of how you can negate the result of a query in MySQL when filtering for specific column values:

<?php
// Establish a connection to the database
$connection = mysqli_connect("localhost", "username", "password", "database");

// Check connection
if($connection === false){
    die("ERROR: Could not connect. " . mysqli_connect_error());
}

// Query to select rows where column 'status' is not equal to 'active'
$sql = "SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE NOT status = 'active'";

// Execute the query
$result = mysqli_query($connection, $sql);

// Fetch and display the results
if(mysqli_num_rows($result) > 0){
    while($row = mysqli_fetch_array($result)){
        echo $row['column_name'] . "<br>";
    }
} else{
    echo "No records found.";
}

// Close connection
mysqli_close($connection);
?>