Using php,how to grab data from a sql data table thats already stored in $data_table?

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I"ve been working on this for days now, i really need some help. I'm sure if i'm even on the right track. Nothing i tried seems to work.

Here is the situation:

Using query in the header, i grabbed the mysql database and stored it in $data_table.

The $data_table has 3 columns: id, name, and type;

Now, in the same page, i'm trying to make a php code that generates a id number, now it checks if the type of the same row is or is not empty. If not empty, grab the name.

So pretty much it needs to do something like this is sql:

SELECT name
WHERE type = is not null // not sure if thats the correct syntax, but u know what i mean.

Any ideas or scripts is appreciated.

I really need help on this.

Thx