proper way to connect

What is the proper way to connect to the database in a PHP form that will keep calling itself and consequently using the database to render parts of the page? Basically, I have been doing this type of deal where the top line is: $linkid = mysql_pconnect( "localhost", "user", "password") or die( "Unable to connect to mySQL server"); and then I switch based on the <INPUT BUTTON> the user clicked, which calls the page over again. I assumed that the $linkid would be set and that the mysql_pconnect() would just reset to the same connection it did before, however if I echo $linkid; it seems to always be "1"? Shouldn't it be something different, sometimes? I then used the excellent "mytop" program and noticed that every time I refresh the page, there seems to be another mysqld process spawned... How do you guys do it? should I just prefix that mysql_pconnect() above with "if (!isset($linkid)) " ------------------------ snip basic pseudo code ----------------------- <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>test</TITLE> <?php include("/www/html/includes/page_top.phtml"); ?> <?php Error_Reporting(7); // Set this to 7 for more error reporting... $linkid = mysql_pconnect( "localhost", "user", "password") or ie( "Unable to connect to mySQL server"); // execute this chunk-o-code when they hit the button if ( isset($action) ) { switch ($action) { case "Add" : if ($errstring == "") { $duplicateResult = mysql_db_query("tattoo", "SELECT ... FROM ... WHERE ..."); if (!$duplicateResult) { echo "<FONT COLOR=#00FF00><PRE>".mysql_errno().": ".mysql_error()."</PRE></FONT>\n"; exit; } $duplicateRows = mysql_num_rows($duplicateResult); if ( $duplicateRows > 0 ) { $duplicatesFound = true; // We found some duplicates so dump them out but leave the existing fields populated $button_label = "Proceed"; break 1; // break out two levels to bypass the "Proceed" that is below here... } } case "Proceed" : if ( $errstring == "" ) { $sql = "INSERT INTO .... VALUES (...)"; $result = mysql_db_query("tattoo", $sql); if (!$result) { echo "<FONT COLOR=#FF0000>Add ".$subcategory_name."<P><PRE>".mysql_errno().": ".mysql_error()."<BR></PRE></FONT>\n"; exit; } } break; case "Update" : if ($errstring == "") { $updatesql = "UPDATE ... SET ..."; $result = mysql_db_query("tattoo", $updatesql); if (!$result) { echo "<FONT COLOR=#0000FF>Update ".$subcategory_fullname."<P><PRE>".mysql_errno().": ".mysql_error()."<BR>".$updatesql."</PRE></FONT>\n"; exit; } } break; } } // if Request == POST if ($errstring != "") echo "<FONT SIZE=+1 COLOR=#FF0000>".$errstring."</FONT>"; ?> <FORM Method="Post"> <INPUT Name="subcategory_name" Size="30" Value='<?php echo $subcategory_name;?>'> <INPUT Name="subcategory_directory" Size="30" Value='<?php echo strtolower($subcategory_directory);?>'> <INPUT NAME="action" TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE='<?php echo $button_label; ?>'> <INPUT NAME="action" TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE="Edit"> <?php ListboxMatch(1, "edit_subcategory_id", "SELECT subcategory_id, subcategory_name FROM SubCategory_Table ORDER BY subcategory_name", $edit_subcategory_id); ?> </FORM> <?php include("/www/html/includes/page_bottom.phtml"); ?>