table inter-relation general query

[mistafeesh]

I'm using PHP and MySQL

Is there a simple way of loading in all the records on one table that match one criteria of a whole load of records on another table without having to go through a loop?

at the moment, for example, if I want all the examples from table_a that match all the different instances of $x from table_b, I'd have to go through a loop calling each instance of $x from table_a, and seeing if there is a match in table_b.
is this normal, or am I missing something?

[mrhappiness]

i think you're missing JOIN, look it up in the mysql online documentation

[mistafeesh]

aaaah. thank you.
I thought something like that must exist - I just didn't know where to find it.

Now I can build rather less convoluted SQL queries - once I've figured out how to use JOIN, that is!😃