<?php
#This is for use on a local installation of XAMPP with the
#the world database installed on the MySQL database engine
#To use in the Streeter Annex you'll need to save this file in
#c:\XAMPP\htdocs and start the XAMPP Apache & MySQL services

#To test at home, you'll need to XAMPP or MAMP or WAMP or similar_text
# and then install the world database (linked from homework) - adjust
# the $myUser, $myPass, $myDsn data below

//variables
$myContinent = '';
$myOutput = array();

$myUser = 'root';
$myPass = '';
$myDsn = 'mysql:host=localhost; dbname=worlddb';

//create connection to the database
$myPDO = new PDO($myDsn, $myUser, $myPass);

//verify required data has been sent
if(isset($_GET['selContinent'])) {
    //create SELECT statement using a parameter
    $myQuery = 'SELECT name, population, gnp, surfaceArea, lifeExpectancy FROM country WHERE continent LIKE :theName';

    //create the prepared SQL statement
    $myPrepSql = $myPDO->prepare($myQuery);

    //execute the statement using the sent data as the parameter value
    $myPrepSql->execute(array('theName' => $_GET['selContinent']));

    //retrieve all the records as an associative array
    $myOutput = $myPrepSql->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
}

//convert the associative array into JSON format
echo json_encode($myOutput);

?>