Returning ID From Insert

[rlafountain]

Hello. I understand this may be a more MySQL based question but I was wondering if you can return the id or primary key/index of a newly inserted row in one step instead of two. Right now im doing

$sql = "INSERT INTO table (name, date) VALUES ($name, $date)"
$result = mysql_query($sql)

then

$sql = "SELECT * FROM table WHERE name='$name' AND date='$date' LIMIT 1"

And I am doing it that way. Just didnt know if there was a shorter way.

Thanks!

[bpat1434]

of COURSE there's an easier way:

mysql_insert_id

(PHP 3, PHP 4, PHP 5)
mysql_insert_id -- Get the ID generated from the previous INSERT operation
Description
int mysql_insert_id ( [resource link_identifier] )

Retrieves the ID generated for an AUTO_INCREMENT column by the previous INSERT query.

<?php

$sql = "INSERT INTO table (name, date) VALUES ($name, $date)";
$result = mysql_query($sql);

$id = mysql_insert_id();

$sql2 = "SELECT * FROM table WHERE id = '$id'";

?>

~Brett