PHP PDOStatement::getIterator() Method: Usage and Examples

Returns an iterator for traversing statement result rows.

The objective is to understand the behavior and operational limits, not only the method name.

What It Does

Returns an iterator for traversing statement result rows.

Syntax and Return Value

PDOStatement::getIterator(): Iterator

The return value and exceptional cases depend on the call described here: Rows are consumed from the live result; iterating again does not necessarily restart the query.

Example 1: Basic Use

The statement has a real query and result set; database-specific metadata and statement options may be unsupported.

<?php
$pdo = new PDO('sqlite::memory:', null, null, [PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION]);
$pdo->exec('CREATE TABLE products (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, name TEXT NOT NULL, price INTEGER NOT NULL, active INTEGER)');
$pdo->exec("INSERT INTO products (id,name,price,active) VALUES (1,'Desk',120,1),(2,'Lamp',35,1),(3,'Chair',85,0)");
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("SELECT id, name, price FROM products WHERE id >= :min ORDER BY id");
$stmt->execute(["min" => 1]);
foreach ($stmt->getIterator() as $row) { echo $row["name"] . PHP_EOL; }

Example 2: A Second Scenario

The statement has a real query and result set; database-specific metadata and statement options may be unsupported.

<?php
$pdo = new PDO('sqlite::memory:', null, null, [PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION]);
$pdo->exec('CREATE TABLE products (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, name TEXT NOT NULL, price INTEGER NOT NULL, active INTEGER)');
$pdo->exec("INSERT INTO products (id,name,price,active) VALUES (1,'Desk',120,1),(2,'Lamp',35,1),(3,'Chair',85,0)");
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("SELECT id, name, price FROM products WHERE id >= :min ORDER BY id");
$stmt->execute(["min" => 2]);
foreach ($stmt->getIterator() as $row) { echo $row["name"] . PHP_EOL; }

Example 3: Practical Checks

The statement has a real query and result set; database-specific metadata and statement options may be unsupported.

<?php
$pdo = new PDO('sqlite::memory:', null, null, [PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION]);
$pdo->exec('CREATE TABLE products (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, name TEXT NOT NULL, price INTEGER NOT NULL, active INTEGER)');
$pdo->exec("INSERT INTO products (id,name,price,active) VALUES (1,'Desk',120,1),(2,'Lamp',35,1),(3,'Chair',85,0)");
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("SELECT id, name, price FROM products WHERE id >= :min ORDER BY id");
$stmt->execute(["min" => 3]);
foreach ($stmt->getIterator() as $row) { echo $row["name"] . PHP_EOL; }

Important Behavior and Edge Cases

Rows are consumed from the live result; iterating again does not necessarily restart the query.

For production use, also account for error handling, data validation, resource limits and environment-specific driver behavior.

Comparison with Related Approaches

Common Beginner Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• Returns an iterator for traversing statement result rows.
• Rows are consumed from the live result; iterating again does not necessarily restart the query.
• fetchAll materializes the rows into an array.

Choose this API or pattern when its exact semantics match your task, and verify the result against the database driver and runtime used by your application.