Turning a result from a query into a PHP variable
<p>The query below is on a page where there is only one value for <code>$submissionid</code>.  Thus, the field <code>points</code> has only one value.  </p>

<p>How can I turn the <code>points</code> from the query below into a regular PHP variable?  </p>

<pre><code>  $sqlStra = "SELECT points, submissionid
               FROM submission 
              WHERE submissionid = '$submissionid'";
</code></pre>

<p><strong>EDIT:</strong> This is pulling from a MySQL database.</p>

<p><strong>EDIT II:</strong> I want to <code>points</code> to equal a variable on the entire page, not just inside of a while loop.</p>
