Inserting into database question

[leerie]

if i insert a new row in the table and set the id to zero, will this automatically move the other entries down a notch. I mean does it make the row at zero equal to one, and increments the other rows.

If not how would i do this.

[Vinay]

no, it wont move other ID's down a notch .. see the previous message i just replied to, you can order then in a specific order

[Kevin Yank]

In principle, you shouldn't be relying on an autoincrement column to do anything except provide a unique number for each entry in the table. If you are, you might need to reconsider your database design.

[freakysid]

I posted something a couple of days ago that may be of assistance.

http://www.sitepointforums.com/showt...153#post119153

To iterate, it is a misnoma to assume that mySQL or any RDMS will maintain any order to the records in a table. Its not part of the relational data model. Its up to the RDMS as to how it stores your records which may include all sort of hashing algorithms and physical storage management strategies that I understand squat about . However, when you want to view your data you can specify how it is to be ordered by using ORDER BY in your SQL query.

I had a bit of a debate with freddydoesphp a while ago on using auto_increment to maintain order. But I can see now that his adherence to a principle of design is warranted. I've notice that a lot of people assume that the RDMS is maintaining some sort of order.

[FatPiper]

What are you trying to do with this? I mean ... there's lots of ways to get around a problem, and possibly with a bit more info, someone could help you?

[leerie]

oh the reason im trying to do this is because i wanted to set up a news page on my site. but i read a couple tutorials on the web but they all displayed the rows of the data base from first to last, which wouldnt make sense if i wanted to show my viewers the latest news first.

i discovered kevin yanks tutorial and i think i'll keep referencing it because i see it has been well written
anyways thanks alot everyong.

leerie

[FatPiper]

Probably the easiest way to do this is to just insert an extra field in your database called Created (or whatever else you want), and put the date into it with PHP. Then, you can just do:

SELECT * FROM news
ORDER BY Created DESC;

which should get you them from newest to oldest. Also, if you've got a lot of news afterwards, you could only have it get the five newest days worth or something like that.
Good luck!