fenway

Who is this "anybody" who has complete access to your database that you're trying to control?

Of course, you should really be storing dates as DATEs.

If the changes are minimal, you can just query the underlying tables directly, based on timestamp. This is assuming the admin will be reviewing this kind of this daily -- i.e. you prepare the list to review 'often'. I suppose you could log ( table, uid, user, timestamp ) too.

Ahoy-hoy.

ENUM is the way to go, if you insist of such column types.

I believe there's an XML export option.

You want a proper fulltext index -- MySQL isn't really good at that -- check out Sphinx.

Also, you've just double-posted.

Sure -- post the EXPLAIN results of each part of the UNION separately.

This is *not* how to do it -- don't pretend that it is. It doesn't work "as expected" -- it works by accident. It's trivial to have your DB wrapper consult your schema once.

Look for sql_mode in the my.cnf file. Of course, you shouldn't disable it -- why not enter 0, or NULL? A string isn't a valid number.

Add * first, then add aliases.

Echo the actual string.

Are you trying to audit their activity? Or show this to the user? How many updates do you expect?

Sounds like you have STRICT mode enabled.

Agreed -- done.

I've heard nothing but horror stories about them.

Covers: Part 1: Using the MySQL Improved Extension, mysqli Part 2: Using the MySQL Extension, mysql Part 3: Using the PDO Extension With MySQL Driver, pdo_mysql Part 4: Using the MySQL Native Driver for PHP, mysqlnd Tutorial is here.

Well, a scalar subquery, that is.

Hopefully this presentation will stay online at scribd... it's simply fantastic, probably the best I've come across in recent memory. At 220 slides, it's quite lengthy -- but the lessons learned are invaluable, so be sure to read all the way to the end. A MUST READ!!!! EDIT: This year's version of the presentation -- some really great stuff in here, particuarly about hierarchies.

At the 2008 MySQL Conference and Expo, The Pythian Group gave away EXPLAIN cheatsheets (PDF).

This resource covers a very broad range of topics... it's worth a look, though, especially if you're stumbling in the early stages of configuration.

Basically, this blog contains a regularly-updated run-down of MySQL functions, with a short description and a few hints on how to use them; RSS feed here.

Please read the excellent FAQ thread on this issue by our very own wildteen88.

To ensure that your post gets answered as soon as possible, please make sure you've included the following: your MySQL server version -- absolutely required! the raw MySQL statement in question [in a CODE block, and without any PHP variables] any errors that MySQL returns to the client [from mysql_error()] the table structure & column indexes of the relevant tables [via SHOW CREATE TABLE is preferred] the EXPLAIN output for your query, if applicable a clear and concise description of what you want this statement to achieve a description of what it's currently doing that's not to your liking a brief listing of the types of things you've attempted so far If you don't provide any or all of the above, don't be surprised if your post never gets the attention it deserves. --fenway