I'm trying to put a counter field into numerous MySQL tables in order to track clicks/views and other things. I want to try and make the update as easy as possible. Will this query do the trick? Is there a cleaner way to do this?

Assume current contents of counter field is 0 result should be 1? right?

UPDATE subjects SET counter = counter + 1 WHERE id = 512;

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~cmiller

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~cmiller

The simple answer is "Yes, that query will increment the counter field column of the subjects table in all rows where the id column is 512."

The longer answer is "Well, that depends on what you mean 'result'."

In MySQL, the return value of an UPDATE query is the number of rows updated. If your query executes without any problems, but the WHERE clause doesn't match any rows, the return value will be zero, which many people incorrectly interpret as "false" or "error".

In PHP, this "return value" is the number returned by calling mysql_affected_rows().

Another common mistake is calling mysql_num_rows() instead. mysql_num_rows() returns the number of rows in the result set of a SELECT query. mysql_affected_rows() returns the number of rows affected by DELETE, INSERT, REPLACE, or UPDATE queries.


Take care,

Nik
http://www.bigaction.org/

One more thing -- as always, it helps to scan through appropriate manuals when looking for answers.

I don't mean to sound pompous, Chris, but it would probably take less time to figure out the answer by writing a simple test table and test query than it would to wait for a reply.

Also, this link in the MySQL manual describes the order of operations in an UPDATE query and lists a very similar query to the one you'd like to perform:
  http://www.mysql.com/doc/en/UPDATE.html

When looking for items in the MySQL manual, I usually use google's site search instead of the search engine built-in to mysql's site.


Take care,

Nik
http://www.bigaction.org/

Thanks for the info Nik.

#1, I didn't mean the whole result thing as a "what I get back from the mysql command", I just mean that the database would now have this as a "result". Wasn't trying to be quite as technical as you went into there.

#2, I also know that sometimes it is easier to setup a test table and test script and do that, but at the same time, I don't always have time to breathe no-less explore the possibilities of trying something new to save time on a project I'm working on now.

#3, You said it yourself that the MySQL search on their site sucks so I rarely find anything helpful, but I will try your suggestion of checking google for it first.

Lastly, the main reason I put these up here is just because I find something that works for me, doesn't necessarily mean that it's right or efficient as I have found out in the past. I value the knowledge of the people on this board thus trust your answers more than me just guessing. As I'm sure you've endountered before, just because it works doesn't mean it's right.

Thanks for your time!

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~cmiller

Touche! You're definitely right about your last main reason. I can't begin to tell you how many people post code snippets I saw that do the right thing the wrong way.

Not that you'd ever be in that group...!


Take care,

Nik
http://www.bigaction.org/