database column read into an array
// sloppy but functional way to find the median in an ordered list
// connect to database
$link = mysql_connect("host","dbase","password");
$db = mysql_select_db("dbase", $link);
// select and retreive data
$sql = "SELECT * FROM table_name";
$sql_result = mysql_query($sql,$link);
$i=0;
while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($sql_result))
{
// load array with data from table
$test_data[] = $row["test_data"];
$i = $i + 1;
}
// sort the array
rsort($test_data);
for ( $count = 0; $count<$i; $count++)
echo "$test_data[$count]
";
mysql_free_result($sql_result);
$oe_value = count($test_data);
if ($oe_value % 2 == 0 )
{
$position = 1;
}
else
{
$position = 2;
}
if ($position == 2 )
{
$median = $test_data[(count($test_data)/2)];
}
else
{
$median= (($test_data[(count($test_data)/2)-1]) +
($test_data[(count($test_data)/2)]))/2;
}
// $median will either be the middle value in the array if the count is odd
// or the average of the center two numbers if the count is even