Two databases - One input form

herschen

I am using Dreamweaver CS3. I am developing a real estate website that gets information from a few different forms (one for finding out property value, one for finding someone's 'dream home,' general contact information, etc.). On all these forms there is a menu button where they choose their newsletter preferences. On each form I would like to have all the information posted to a database specific to that form and I would also like to have their First Name, Last Name and E-mail Address also added into the newsletter database.

Another side issue I have is that if someone were to fill out two forms (for example: the 'dream home' form and the contact form), their information would be entered twice into the newsletter database. How do I set up a filter that deletes duplicate e-mail entries?

Perhaps I should just buy a book on the matter. I bought the book "Dreamweaver 8: The Missing Manual," which got me this far, but I think I'll need something a little more heavy duty for the type of PHP work I plan to do. I will need to compare people's 'dream home' entries with the latest properties that we have in the area and also make sure that we're keeping in touch with these people. What would be a good publication for someone whose just getting their feet wet with databasing? Thank you.

maxpup979

You might want to look at:
Beginning PHP and MySQL 5: From Novice to Professional, Second Edition
or
Web Database Applications with PHP & MySQL, 2nd Edition

Assuming you are using MySQL.

While you can set up a cron that goes through and cleans up your DB, I think that a more appropriate solution may be to redesign your application so that the extra data isn't entered in the first place. Not knowing anything about your requirements, and just shooting from the hip, I personally would create a user login piece to gather the users information, and also allow them to return and add/modify existing dream home info or whatever they desire. This sort of system also lends itself well to associating the user to the assorted data you are gathering.

Hope this helps