Numbering rows in a database?

[membot]

Sorry if this belongs in the MySQL section. I figured it might be more of a PHP thing.

I have a database where rows each have a number, which is used to determine what order they appear in on my PHP page. But right now they aren't like 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. They are a little jumbled because of deleting some and changing some, so they're more like 1, 3, 7, etc. Is there a way to make them 1, 2, 3, 4 with PHP? Like, put them in order and number them accordingly?

Thanks.

[mikosiko]

the famous question again.... we should have an Sticky post for this...

 

short answer: Don't do it!!.

 

for long answers/explanations just do a search in this forum using "renumber"

 

 

[membot]

Well the thing is, I'm making an admin for the site, so the user will see these numbers and be able to change them. The idea is that if for example they want to put in a new row between rows 2 and 3, they could type 2.5 for the row number. Then when they save it and refresh the page, the rows are ordered with integers again. I've seen this exact thing done on other sites. Maybe it's not very efficient, but it'll do for me.

[mikosiko]

well... if the field that hold those numbers that you are referring to is not a Primary Key (PK) or part of a relation with other table (Foreign Key) then ... yes... you could renumber as you wish.