PHP MySQL Create Database and Tables

A database holds one or multiple tables.

Create a Database

The CREATE DATABASE statement is used to create a database in MySQL.

Syntax

CREATE DATABASE database_name

 

To get PHP to execute the statement above we must use the mysql_query() function. This function is used to send a query or command to a MySQL connection.

Example

The following example creates a database called "my_db":

<?php $con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123"); if (!$con)   {   die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());   } if (mysql_query("CREATE DATABASE my_db",$con))   {   echo "Database created";   } else   {   echo "Error creating database: " . mysql_error();   } mysql_close($con); ?>

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Create a Table

The CREATE TABLE statement is used to create a table in MySQL.

Syntax

CREATE TABLE table_name ( column_name1 data_type, column_name2 data_type, column_name3 data_type, .... )

To learn more about SQL, please visit our SQL tutorial.
We must add the CREATE TABLE statement to the mysql_query() function to execute the command.

Example

The following example creates a table named "Persons", with three columns. The column names will be "FirstName", "LastName" and "Age":

<?php $con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123"); if (!$con)   {   die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());   } // Create database if (mysql_query("CREATE DATABASE my_db",$con))   {   echo "Database created";   } else   {   echo "Error creating database: " . mysql_error();   } // Create table mysql_select_db("my_db", $con); $sql = "CREATE TABLE Persons ( FirstName varchar(15), LastName varchar(15), Age int )"; // Execute query mysql_query($sql,$con); mysql_close($con); ?>

Important: A database must be selected before a table can be created. The database is selected with the mysql_select_db() function.
Note: When you create a database field of type varchar, you must specify the maximum length of the field, e.g. varchar(15).