Update database based on modified fields

[yoki]

Hello,

Hope someone can help me with this. I have a php page that retrieves entries from a mysql database and puts the data back in their corresponding fields. I would also like to offer the option of updating the database within this page.

What I'm thinking is that whenever the user modifies a field, the value is then updated in the database. What I'm concerned with is the time it will take to update the database if I use many select and update commands. Is there a smart way to detect which fields were modified and then only update the fields that have changed using some php coding and not javascript. Or only doing an UPDATE command will be the best way to do it. Hope I'm clear on this...Your comments would be appreciated.... 🙂

[devinemke]

you could store the db results in a session and then when your form is submitted compare the returned POST values with what's in the session and only run the UPDATE query if things have changed.