In CodeIgniter, the result() and row() methods are commonly used to retrieve data from a database:

• result(): Returns a list of data objects (multiple rows).
• row(): Returns a single row as an object.

Basic Syntax to Retrieve Data from MySQL

SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name

Or, to retrieve all columns from a table:

SELECT * FROM table_name

Step-by-Step Implementation

Below, we’ll create a simple example demonstrating how to retrieve data from a database and display it in a table format.

File Structure

application/
│
├── controllers/
│ └── User.php
│
├── models/
│ └── User_model.php
│
└── views/
└── list.php

Step 1: Create list.php in application/views/

The list.php view file will display the fetched data in a table format.

File: application/views/list.php

<table width="600" border="1" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="5">
	<tr style="background:#CCC">
		<th>Sr No</th>
		<th>First_name</th>
		<th>Last_name</th>
		<th>Email Id</th>
		<th>Delete</th>
		<th>Update</th>
	</tr>
	<?php 
         //$i=1; 
         foreach($result as $key => $row) { 
		echo "<tr>"; 
		echo "<td>".++$key."</td>"; 
		echo "<td>".$row->first_name."</td>";
		echo "<td>".$row->last_name."</td>"; 
		echo "<td>".$row->email."</td>"; 
		echo "</tr>"; 
              //$i++; 
         } ?>
</table>

Explanation

• The table displays a list of users fetched from the database.
• Each row contains the user’s details along with “Delete” and “Update” options linked to the respective methods in the controller.

Step 2: Create User_model.php in application/models/

The User_model handles fetching data from the database using CodeIgniter’s Query Builder.

File: application/models/User_model.php

class User_model extends CI_Model {
	/*Select*/
	public function list() {
		$this->db->select([“*”]);
		$this->db->from(‘user_info’);
		$query = $this->db->get();
		return $query->result();
	}
}

Explanation

• $this->db->select('*'): Select all columns from the table.
• $this->db->from('user_info'): Specifies the table from which to fetch data.
• $this->db->get(): Executes the query.
• return $query->result(): Returns the result set as an array of objects.

Step 3: Create User.php in application/controllers/

The User controller manages the flow between the model and the views.

File: application/controllers/User.php

class User extends CI_Controller {

	public function __construct() {
		/*call CodeIgniter's default Constructor*/
		parent::__construct();

		/*load model*/
		$this->load->model('User_model');
	}
	
	public function list() {
		$data[‘result’]	= $this->user_model->list();
		$this->load->view(‘list’, $data);
	}
}

Explanation

• __construct(): Loads the User_model when the controller is instantiated.
• list(): Calls the list() method from the User_model to fetch data and pass it to the list.php view.

Summary

• Views: Created list.php to display a table of users with options to delete or update.
• Model: Created User_model.php to interact with the database and fetch records using result().
• Controller: Created User.php to handle user requests, fetch data using the model, and load the views.

Key Points

• result() is used when you want to fetch multiple rows from the table.
• row() is used when you need to fetch a single row from the result set (not used in this tutorial but can be implemented similarly).