SQL - When data are transfered - sql

Question

i need to get a large amount of data from a remote database. the idea is do a sort of pagination, like this
1 Select a first block of datas
SELECT * FROM TABLE LIMIT 1,10000
2 Process that block
while(mysql_fetch_array()...){
//do something
}
3 Get next block
and so on.
Assuming 10000 is an allowable dimension for my system, let us suppose i have 30000 records to get: i perform 3 call to remote system.
But my question is: when executing a select, the resultset is transmitted and than stored in some local part with the result that fetch is local, or result set is stored in remote system and records coming one by one at any fetch? Because if the real scenario is the second i don't perform 3 call, but 30000 call, and is not what i want.
I hope I explained, thanks for help
bye

Answer 1

First, it's highly recommended to utilize MySQLi or PDO instead of the deprecated mysql_* functions
http://php.net/manual/en/mysqlinfo.api.choosing.php
By default with the mysql and mysqli extensions, the entire result set is loaded into PHP's memory when executing the query, but this can be changed to load results on demand as rows are retrieved if needed or desired.
mysql
mysql_query() buffers the entire result set in PHP's memory
mysql_unbuffered_query() only retrieves data from the database as rows are requested
mysqli
mysqli::query()
The $resultmode parameter determines behaviour.
The default value of MYSQLI_STORE_RESULT causes the entire result set to be transfered to PHP's memory, but using MYSQLI_USE_RESULT will cause the rows to be retrieved as requested.
PDO by default will load data as needed when using PDO::query() or PDO::prepare() to execute the query and retrieving results with PDO::fetch().
To retrieve all data from the result set into a PHP array, you can use PDO::fetchAll()
Prepared statements can also use the PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_USE_BUFFERED_QUERY constant, though PDO::fetchALL() is recommended.
It's probably best to stick with the default behaviour and benchmark any changes to determine if they actually have any positive results; the overhead of transferring results individually may be minor, and other factors may be more important in determining the optimal method.

Answer 2

You would be performing 3 calls, not 30.000. That's for sure.
Each 10.000 results batch is rendered on the server (by performing each of the 3 queries). Your while iterates through a set of data that has already been returned by MySQL (that's why you don't have 30.000 queries).
That is assuming you would have something like this:
$res = mysql_query(...);
while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($res)) {
//do something with $row
}
Anything you do inside the while loop by making use of $row has to do with already-fetched data from your initial query.
Hope this answers your question.

Answer 3

according to the documentation here all the data is fetched to the server, then you go through it.
from the page:
Returns an array of strings that corresponds to the fetched row, or FALSE if there are no more rows.
In addition it seams this is deprecated so you might want to use something else that is suggested there.