What is the potential issue with the MySQL query in the PHP script causing the error message?

The potential issue with the MySQL query in the PHP script causing the error message could be due to incorrect syntax or a missing connection to the database. To solve this issue, ensure that the query syntax is correct and that the connection to the database is established before executing the query.

// Correcting the MySQL query and ensuring a valid database connection

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

// Check if the connection is successful
if (!$connection) {
    die("Connection failed: " . mysqli_connect_error());
}

// Corrected MySQL query
$query = "SELECT * FROM table_name";

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

// Check if the query was successful
if ($result) {
    // Process the results
    while ($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
        // Output the data
        echo $row['column_name'] . "<br>";
    }
} else {
    echo "Error executing the query: " . mysqli_error($connection);
}

// Close the connection
mysqli_close($connection);