# mysql_unbuffered_query

(PHP 4 >= 4.0.6, PHP 5, PECL mysql:1.0)

mysql_unbuffered_query — Send an SQL query to MySQL, without fetching and buffering the result rows

### Description

resource mysql_unbuffered_query ( string `$query` [, resource `$link_identifier` ] )

mysql_unbuffered_query() sends a SQL query `query` to MySQL, without fetching and buffering the result rows automatically, as mysql_query() does. On the one hand, this saves a considerable amount of memory with SQL queries that produce large result sets. On the other hand, you can start working on the result set immediately after the first row has been retrieved: you don't have to wait until the complete SQL query has been performed. When using multiple DB-connects, you have to specify the optional parameter `link_identifier` .

### Parameters

`query`

  A SQL query

`link_identifier`

  The MySQL connection. If the link identifier is not specified, the last link opened by mysql_connect() is assumed. If no such link is found, it will try to create one as if mysql_connect() was called with no arguments. If by chance no connection is found or established, an `E_WARNING` level warning is generated.

### Return Values

For SELECT, SHOW, DESCRIBE or EXPLAIN statements, mysql_unbuffered_query() returns a resource on success, or `FALSE` on error.

For other type of SQL statements, UPDATE, DELETE, DROP, etc, mysql_unbuffered_query() returns `TRUE` on success or `FALSE` on error.

### Notes

> Note: The benefits of mysql_unbuffered_query() come at a cost: You cannot use mysql_num_rows() and mysql_data_seek() on a result set returned from mysql_unbuffered_query(). You also have to fetch all result rows from an unbuffered SQL query, before you can send a new SQL query to MySQL.

### See Also

- mysql_query()