New to PHP, variable question

[Anon]

Hi, Im pretty new to writing php code. Im using php4 and mysql. i am trying to write a contact manager script for my business. i have 3 forms, that correspond to 3 tables
in one database.

the first form is the contact information, i assign a contact_id as the primary key and it autoincrements, once the form is submitted and dumped into table 1, i click on a link that takes me to Form 2. In form 2 the primary key is activity_id and it too auto increments. Now here is what i would like to do. There is a field in table 2 where the contact_id number from the first form(and table 1) has to be put in but i would like to grab it from the first form and dump it right into table 2 field contact_id.

i guess i want that variable to continue on as i go through each form and data dump, but using auto increment when you dump to mysql you use (\"\"), if i echo contact_id, it is always blank...

Hope this made some sense

[[deleted]]

It all made sense up untill the last part.

You have a form that creates a new row in the table, and you want to use the auto_increment column value from that row in the second form.

Then you have to run the insert query, and then use mysql_insert_id() to get the value.
(read the manual about that function)
Then you can send that value to the next form through the URL, and print it into the form as a hidden field.