RE: [PHP] Modifying the sort order of a query

[snip] I've just tried the sub-select approach. Works great on the first page - shows names listed alphabetically sorted by country. However, once I click on 'Next 20' both sorts go bye-bye (neither by name nor country). [/snip] I am late to the thread but I wanted to offer another suggestion. Retrieve the data results into an array and sort the array. I like Peter's idea though, using a case statement for the appropriate sort order information. You could also set a variable ($lastSortOrder) to 'default', 'country', 'city', 'whatever' and place this variable within the query. Pseudocode follows; $lastSortOrder = "default" $query = "SELECT name, address, city, state, zip FROM table "; $query .= "ORDER BY " . $lastSortOrder . "; <input type="submit" name="action" value="Sort By Country"><br> <input type="submit" name="action" value="Sort By City"><br> switch($action){ case "Sort By Country": $lastSortOrder = "country" break; case "Sort By City": $lastSortOrder = "city" break; } I know this isn't complete but I HTH! Jay