save messages

[liamloveslearning]

Im jsut wondering; in a messaging system, if a user wanted to save a message and store it in there saved messages, would I be required to produce a table for saved data? or would it call data from the initial table of messages?

 

my only cause for concern is that if i do use 1 table of data and echo it on the saved page; if the user who sent the message deletes it; essentially wont that dissapear from the "saved msgs" page as its no longer in the table? ???

[BlueSkyIS]

i would use 1 table and have a field called message_status, using a small integer to indicate the status of the message, then only display that message where it should be displayed based on the value of message_status.

[jonsjava]

create 2 fields in the table. one named "sender_has" and one named "receiver_has". set both to not null default value=1

if the sender deletes it, just set their value to 0, and the same for receiver. if they are both set to "0", then delete it from the db.

[liamloveslearning]

ahh okay thanks; ill give it a go now 

[liamloveslearning]

sorry can i just ask, how would i automatically have it deleted from the db when both field values = 0?

[liamloveslearning]

in regards to blueskyis, even if i displayed the row of data coinciding with a message_status, that doesnt prevent the other user from deleting the message does it?

[BlueSkyIS]

for each user, i would tie their user_id to any messages that they have individually via a join table consisting of the columns: id, user_id, message_id, status. when the user deletes the message, they just delete the join record, not the message itself.