wpdb Cannot Access Associative Array Data in a Count Query

Question

I have two records in my custom table. I am trying to use SELECT COUNT(*) AS total FROM tableA but I am not getting the results I am expecting.

The code below will echo Array ( [0] => Array ( [total] => 2 ) ):

// Count the amount of records in the table
$total = $wpdb->get_results( "SELECT COUNT( * ) AS total FROM tableA", 'ARRAY_A' );

echo "Total Records:" . print_r( $total );

The code below echos nothing:

// Count the amount of records in the table
$total = $wpdb->get_results( "SELECT COUNT( * ) AS total FROM tableA", 'ARRAY_A' );

echo "Total Records:" . $total[0]['total'];

How can I simplify this? What am I doing wrong? I'm racking my brain over this and I just can't get it to work.

Answer 1

You can simplify that by using $wpdb->get_var.

$total = $wpdb->get_var( "SELECT COUNT( * ) AS total FROM tableA" );
echo "Total Records:" . $total;

However, the code you've got should work-- either version of it. I tested both.

The only thing I notice is that the first version of the code should give you Array ( [0] => Array ( [total] => 2 ) ). Where is cnt coming from?