Checking Supported Drivers with getAvailableDrivers()

The getAvailableDrivers() method is a static method of the PDO class that returns an array of all available drivers currently installed on your PHP server. Because the method is static, we call it directly using the class name (PDO::getAvailableDrivers()), meaning we do not even need an active database connection to check for support. This is crucial when deploying applications to new servers, where we need to verify if the MySQL or any other driver is enabled at all.

EXAMPLE

<?php
class SystemInfo {
    // Static method in our library
    public static function printDrivers() {
        // Calling the static method directly from the PDO class
        $drivers = PDO::getAvailableDrivers();
        
        return $drivers;
    }
}

// PART 3: Usage
$list = SystemInfo::printDrivers();

echo "Your server supports the following drivers:<br>";
foreach ($list as $driver) {
    echo "- " . $driver . "<br>";
}
?>

RESULT

The result will be displayed here...

Practical Application: We use this method in system tools or installation wizards (installers) to warn the user if their server does not support the required database. Check the process at home by following these steps:

Start the Apache module in the XAMPP control panel.
You do not even need a running MySQL server for this method, as it checks PHP configuration settings.
The method returns an array with driver names, such as "mysql", "sqlite", or "pgsql".
Insert the example below into a PHP file and see which databases your local system supports.