I apologise if my explanation caused confusion. What I meant to say was that the update page will pull down the relative record as chosen by a search page prior to the update page and then populate the form with that data. Then when someone submits the form all of the fields will be updated in that record, even if they haven't changed anything. The problem is that we have some pages where more than one person has to work on the same record and so there's always a risk of two people with the same record open at once overwriting each other's changes. Thanks very much for your suggestions though. Andy -----Original Message----- From: Norland, Martin [mailto:Martin.Norland@xxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Monday, 29 November 2004 15:36 To: php-db@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: RE: Multi-User Update Problem -----Original Message----- >Does anyone know a good way of locking out access to a record on a >MySQL database when someone has the update page open? The problem is >that we have a local intranet site which is accessed by members of >different departments. Now at the moment when someone loads the page >all of the data is pulled into the form, and then when they submit, all >of that data is passed back to the database, including anything they >haven't changed. <snip> You should really rethink whether sending all those records is necessary, or wise. Is the convenience of mass updates really worth the headache? >What we are trying to avoid is situations where for example someone >leaves the form open on their computer and goes away for lunch. In the >meantime someone else at a different station makes changes to the form. >Then when the first person comes back from lunch, they submit the form, >thereby writing over all of the second person's changes with the old >data. <snip> My personal opinion on this: Any database that's so simple/small that it should have its entire contents updated every change, should only be managed by a single person. If that isn't an option, then the individuals should be modifying individual records instead of the entire recordset. This means a listing page, and selecting the record (or records, using checkboxes) to update. This is where you can easily set your locking, perhaps with a timestamp that will time out after X minutes, to prevent users overwriting. If neither of these are options, you have larger problems then you'll be able to properly solve in a web environment. Forcing the browser to re-display the page every minute [set the href explicitly, not reload, in case of post/etc.] is something that should at least reduce the chances of massive overwrite errors. Not that I particularly approve of that method :) It is, however, a relatively functional solution - if you're stuck with neither of the above as being options. - Martin Norland, Database / Web Developer, International Outreach x3257 The opinion(s) contained within this email do not necessarily represent those of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. -- PHP Database Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php -- PHP Database Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
