What is the best way to check if a record already exists in a MySQL table before inserting it using PHP?

To check if a record already exists in a MySQL table before inserting it using PHP, you can use a SELECT query to search for the record based on certain criteria (e.g. a unique identifier). If the query returns a result, then the record already exists in the table. You can then decide whether to update the existing record or skip the insertion. 

// Connect to the database
$connection = new mysqli('localhost', 'username', 'password', 'database');

// Check connection
if ($connection->connect_error) {
    die("Connection failed: " . $connection->connect_error);
}

// Check if record already exists
$query = "SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE unique_column = 'value'";
$result = $connection->query($query);

if ($result->num_rows > 0) {
    echo "Record already exists in the table.";
} else {
    // Insert the record into the table
    $insert_query = "INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2) VALUES ('value1', 'value2')";
    $connection->query($insert_query);
    echo "Record inserted successfully.";
}

// Close the connection
$connection->close();

Keywords

PHP MySQL record existence check INSERT query data validation

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