How to Dynamically Populate Dropdowns with MySQL Enum Values?

Enumerating Database Options Made Easy

Question:

How can I dynamically populate dropdowns with enum values stored in a MySQL database?

Answer:

Yes, this is certainly possible in MySQL. Below is a function that extracts enum values from a database:

function get_enum_values( $table, $field )
{
    $type = fetchRowFromDB( "SHOW COLUMNS FROM {$table} WHERE Field = '{$field}'" )->Type;
    preg_match("/^enum\(\'(.*)\'\)$/", $type, $matches);
    $enum = explode("','", $matches[1]);
    return $enum;
}

Explanation:

This function takes the table name and enum field name as input. It uses the "SHOW COLUMNS" statement to retrieve the column definition and identify the enum type. The regular expression matches the enum values enclosed in single quotes and then splits them into an array.

This function is useful for populating dropdowns or other UI elements with possible enum values retrieved directly from the database.

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