• If $key is a string, this parameter is interpreted as the address of the values you want to retrieve.
• If $key is an associative array, it overwrites any of the paramters you provide, without the need to enter default parameters - this might come in handy in certain situations.
• Since version 2.9.3 the argument $key may also be an object of type $dbQuery. If so, no additional parameters need to be present. This is a shortcut, which e.g. allows you to prepare a query as an object and reuse it with multiple arguments.

• $key = the address of the value(s) to retrieve (mandatory)
• $where = a search string (optional)
• $search = alias of $where (deprecated)
• $order_by = array of columns to order the resultset by (optional)
• $desc = boolean, if true results will be ordered in descending, otherwise in ascending order (optional)
• $offset = integer, the number of the first result to be returned (optional)
• $limit = integer, maximum number of results to return (optional)

• $orderBy is the name of the column in the current table to order the resultset by.
• $orderBy is a numeric array of strings, where each element is the name of a column in the current table. The resultset will get ordered by the values of these columns in the direction in which they are provided. This feature became available in version 2.8.5

• $where is a comma seperated list of column-value pairs using the following syntax:

  column1=value1,column2=value2,...,columnN=valueN

  Note that comparison takes place using the SQL operator 'LIKE', except for columns that are keys (either a primary key or a foreign key), which are compared using the SQL operator '='.
• $where is a two-dimensional numeric array and its entries follow this syntax:

  array(array(0=>column1,1=>value1,2=>operator1),...)

  The "column" name is mandatory and needs to be a string. The "value" is mandatory and needs to be a scalar value. The "operator" is optional and defaults to 'LIKE'. It needs to be a string and can be one of the following:

   '=', 'LIKE', '<', '>', '!=', '<=', '>=', '==' (alias of '=')

• primarykey: Name of primary key column
• foreignkeys: Array, listing all foreign keys (MySQL only), with the following values:
  • column: Name of column in this table
  • foreigntable: Name of referenced foreign table
  • foreigncolumn: Name of referenced column in foreign table
• length: Number of columns in current table
• The columns are arrays, numbered 0 through N, with each of them having the following values:
  • table: Name of current table
  • name: Name of column
  • type: Data type of column
  • length: Maximum length
  • nullable: True, when the column may contain NULL as value, false otherwise
  • primarykey: True, when the column is the primary key, false otherwise
  • foreignkey: True, when the column is a foreign key, false otherwise
  • references: If column is a foreign key, this is a numeric array with the following values:
    • table: name of referenced foreign table
    • column: name of referenced column in foreign table
  • unique: True, when the column must not contain duplicate values, false otherwise
  • index: True, when there is an index on this column, false otherwise (MySQL only)
  • auto: True, when the column uses auto increment or auto number, false otherwise
  • default: Default value of this column, or NULL if there is none (MySQL only)
  • unsigned: True, when the column is an unsigned number type, false otherwise
  • zerofill: True, when the column has the zerofill flag set, false otherwise
  • comment: The comment on this column, or NULL if there is none (MySQL only)
  • select: True, if SELECT statements are allowed on this column and false otherwise (MySQL only)
  • update: True, if UPDATE/DELETE statements are allowed on this column and false otherwise (MySQL only)
  • insert: True, if INSERT statements are allowed on this column and false otherwise (MySQL only)

 Array
 (
     [length] => 6
     [primarykey] => foo_id
     [foreignkeys] => Array
         (
             [0] => Array
                 (
                     [column] => bar_id
                     [foreigntable] => bar
                     [foreigncolumn] => bar_id
                 )

         )
     [0] => Array
         (
             [table] => foo
             [name] => foo_id
             [type] => int
             [nullable] =>
             [primarykey] => 1
             [unique] =>
             [index] =>
             [auto] => 1
             [default] =>
             [unsigned] =>
             [zerofill] =>
             [comment] => id
             [length] => 8
             [foreignkey] =>
             [references] =>
             [update] => 1
             [insert] => 1
             [select] => 1
         )

     [...]

     [5] => Array
         (
             [table] => foo
             [name] => bar_id
             [type] => int
             [nullable] =>
             [primarykey] =>
             [unique] =>
             [index] => 1
             [auto] =>
             [default] =>
             [unsigned] =>
             [zerofill] =>
             [comment] => some label
             [length] => 10
             [foreignkey] => 1
             [references] => Array
                 (
                     [0] => bar
                     [1] => bar_id
                 )
             [update] => 1
             [insert] => 1
             [select] => 1
         )
 )