PDOFETCHBOTH

PDOFETCHBOTH, or PDO::FETCH_BOTH, is a fetch mode in PHP's PDO extension used with PDOStatement::fetch or fetchAll. When this mode is selected, each row is returned as an array that can be accessed using both numeric column indices and the column names.

In a result set, numeric indices start at 0 and reflect the order of the selected columns. Associative keys correspond to the column names as returned by the database driver. If two columns share the same name in the result (for example, when joining tables), the associative keys may overwrite earlier values, so aliasing columns is often recommended to avoid conflicts.

Default behavior: FETCH_BOTH is the default fetch mode for PDOStatement::fetch unless the mode is explicitly changed, and the default fetch mode for a statement can also be configured via the PDO attribute ATTR_DEFAULT_FETCH_MODE. Because it provides both forms of access, it can be convenient but may consume more memory than a mode that returns only numeric or associative data.

Usage considerations: If you only need numeric indices, FETCH_NUM can be more memory-efficient. If you only need column-name access, FETCH_ASSOC may be preferable. FETCH_BOTH is useful when a caller benefits from both access methods, such as certain legacy code paths or mixed access patterns.

Example: $stmt = $pdo->query("SELECT id, name FROM users"); $row = $stmt->fetch(PDO::FETCH_BOTH); echo $row[0]; echo $row['name'];

Related modes include PDO::FETCH_ASSOC, PDO::FETCH_NUM, and PDO::FETCH_OBJ.