Read-only Queries - only show affected rows instead of executing query

dougmcc1

I have a script that has a text box where you can enter the query you want to run and see the results in the browser in a table.

This is great for select statements but I'm worried about someone typing in a delete query or update query etc. and messing up the database. Is there a way I can make the query "read-only" or only pull data from a view of the table before running the query, etc?

Really, I just want to show the affected rows of queries, not execute them. I can execute them in phpmyadmin myself.

Any advice?

bogu

Implicit Transaction Commit and Rollback
Deadlock Detection and Rollback
START TRANSACTION, COMMIT, and ROLLBACK Syntax

But this are not supported by MyISAM...

dougmcc1

I like examples because documentation is hard to read. But I think the following code is what I was looking for:

START TRANSACTION;
SELECT @A:=SUM(salary) FROM table1 WHERE type=1;
UPDATE table2 SET summary=@A WHERE type=1;
COMMIT;

Only, I don't want to commit afterward because I don't want the changes to take effect. So would I leave COMMIT out then or do I have to put something like NO COMMIT or ROLLBACK?

Why is START TRANSACTION necessary?
Also, If I SET AUTOCOMMIT = 0 does it only affect the current query or will it change the database setting? Does SET AUTOCOMMIT = 0 go at the beginning or end of the query?

Thanks for the links, that was a very helpful start.