Lists inside the cell and output it the same way in php

Question

Is it possible to make a list inside the cell of a table in mysql and outputs it the same way when being retrieved through php? I've been trying to work it out but I don't know if it's possible.

Sample of this is in my packages table I have a column_name (Inclusions) and in every cell it has lists of data separated by new line. But whenever I retrieve it in php, it displays in one sentence.

Answer 1

While Barmar is correct, I would suggest a design change in your database. Instead of listing several values in a single cell, you should have a separate entry for each value and reference it to the list name.

    +-----------+   +------------------+
    | List_Name |   | List_Item        |
    |-----------|   |------------------|
    | ID | Name |   | List_ID | Value  |
    | 0  | Frt  |   | 0       | Apple  |
    | 1  | Veg  |   | 1       | Tomato |
    +-----------+   | 1       | Potato |
                    | 0       | Pear   |
                    +------------------+

Querying by List_Name:

    SELECT b.Value
    FROM List_Item b
    JOIN List_Name a ON b.List_ID = a.ID
    WHERE a.Name = 'Frt'

Return all of the values:

    SELECT b.Value
    FROM List_Item b
    JOIN List_Name a ON b.List_ID = a.ID

Return all of the values and order by name:

    SELECT b.Value
    FROM List_Item b
    JOIN List_Name a ON b.List_ID = a.ID
    ORDER BY a.Name ASC | DESC

Return individual values:

    SELECT b.Value
    FROM List_Item b
    JOIN List_Name a ON b.List_ID = a.ID
    WHERE b.Value = 'Apple'

This will give you the raw output: Apple Pear (you can manually add a line break)

Of course, you can combine this with a loop and you can add a line break with php.

Edit: It took me a while to type this, and I did not see the edit on Barmar's answer.