SQL: remove specific text from db

sijis

I have 2 tables

Table1

id | cat_name
1 | Name1
2 | Name2
3 | Name3

Table2

item_id | item_cat
1 | 1,2
2 | 2
3 | 1,3
4 | 2,3

Now my question is this.
when I remove any data from Table1, i want its referencing id (which is in Table2) to get removed as well. I honestly don't have a clue where to begin or how to search/replace such query.

DELETE FROM Table1 WHERE id = 1;
// then this will delete data in item_id 1 and 3
// the result would be so
// query needed here.

Table2

item_id | item_cat
1 | 2
2 | 2
3 | 3
4 | 2,3

thanks.

mbouclas

You can start by using an SQL statement like the following :

DELETE table1,table2 FROM table1,table2 WHERE table1.id = table2.item_cat and table1.id = 1

The above should remove every row from table2 that is associated with the item_id of table1. Things will get more complex when you want to keep one of the values found in table2.
Hope this helps a bit...

sijis

yeah,
i don't want to delete the rows which has the value.
i just wanted to change/remove the reference to that id in the item_cat.Table2 field.

I figured it might be somewhat complex to accomplish, but any direction would be helpful.

thanks for the reply.