check if a record exists

[Anon]

Hello,

Is there a way to check if a record already exist. I have a list of users, and a user can add it's own name to that list, but if that name already exists, it shouldn't get written in the database, and if it doesn't exist, it shóuld be written in the database.

Thank you,

Inne Hoekstra

[Anon]

if you're using mySQL, check out REPLACE INTO syntax. otherwise, maybe you can branch your logic on result of count(*):

select count(*)
from my_table a
where a.name = '$form_var_name'

[icecool]

I use both the count() method and the 'mysql_num_rows-function'.
I don't really know which one is faster but when you don't need the data of the record it seems logical to use the count(). If you need the data (eg when you want to determine whether to present the user with an input or an update form) it is better to use the mysql_num_rows function since you only need to perform 1 query.