Re: Locking mysql tables with PHP

Tony Crockford wrote:

Hi bit confused! here's what I want to do: get a numeric value from a MySQL table, do a calculation, then on another PHPpage update the numeric value in the table. what I don't want is anyone else getting the same number from the table before I've updated it. what PHP would you use to do this? Sorry for what is probably a really basic question - I did look at the MySQL manual, but I'm not sure how exactly to issue an SQL query LOCK TABLES using PHP.

LOCK TABLES will not work because the lock is released when the first page is finished. You could use a file that will you will use as a lock, but this could lock your table for minutes and eventualy, if the user desides not to take any action, forever. I would suggest to use a temporary table to hold taken numbers.