auto_increment problem???

G'day folks: The way I have my MySQL table set up should work as follows: 1). If table IS NOT empty, get MySQL to insert auto_increment value into primary key column as normal, then get value of previous record's second, none primary ID column. (latter column used for lookup purposes elsewhere) (This is do-able as there is already an existing record from which to gather a second none-primary ID.) 2). If table IS empty, insert auto_increment value as normal, into primary key column and *the same value* into the second, none-primary ID column. The thing is, as I'm using auto_increment as my primary key definition, and occassionally this table is emptied (deleted from), how can I get the second none primary ID column to reflect the new primary key auto_increment value of a new record, if no previous record exists?? I hope you understand what I mean! ;-) Cheers. Russ Mr Russ Michell Web Applications Developer Itomic.com Email: russ@itomic.com Tel: +61 (0)8 9321 3844 Fax: +61 (0)8 6210 1364 Post: PO Box 228, Innaloo, WA 6918, Australia Street: Suite 24, 158 William St, Perth, WA 6000, Australia "No proof of existence is not proof of non-existence." (Physicist: Stanton T. Friedman on Debunking Ufology)