How to get the integer from distinct count ?

[junaid_5]

this is my code

$totalDates = "SELECT COUNT( DISTINCT date ) 
               FROM table_name";
$result = mysqli_query($connection, $totalDates);
$totalDates = mysqli_fetch_array($totalDates, MYSQLI_NUM);
echo "there are total $totalDates Distinct Rows";

i want to get the no of distinct dates from table_name but it giving me this error , what i might be doing wrong ?

Error: Warning: mysqli_fetch_array() expects parameter 1 to be mysqli_result, string given

P.S : i ran the sql code in the query windows , its working fine there and gave me an integer value.

[hericles]

The issue isn't with the SQL which is why the query works fine. The error clearly states you are using mysql_fetch_array wrong.
You want to be passing in the result of your query, not the query string.

$totalDates = mysqli_fetch_array($result, MYSQLI_NUM);