seeking for ! match (apache,php3,mysql)

Salut! I am looking for a tight way to search for a match to $email_addy. I am utilizing a mysql database, so what I want to say is: $query ="select email_add from user where email_add='$email_addy'"; then send to server.. Then if $query is false meaning no matches then proceed with update etc. Otherwise there was a match , do something comp[letely different. The deal is that for select queries (per manual) the result returned is the result identifier not a bool. So Is there a one line $query statement that I can use to find out match or no match? What has anyone else used in the past/present? Thanks! Christopher C.M. Allen Email: callen@driver8.org Business: 1.715.821.4006 Home: 1.715.426.6661