Thanks Frank. I sorted the db originally as an experiment, but know not to do this now. I'm learning slowly, well I am 59.
I've got logged as PRIMARY KEY (`logged`) and to display all the records, I use: SELECT *, UNIX_TIMESTAMP(logged) AS posted FROM forum ORDER BY logged DESC Regards, Bob. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Franks" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Bob - As Pete tried to tell you, there's really no such thing as sorting > a retational data base (like MySQL). You can insert a set of records > that are already sorted, but as soon as you insert even one additional > record, the sort order is undefined. > > Instead, you perform efficient searches by creating indexes on certain > fields. Even indexes *can* cause performance degradation (when > inserting or updating), so don't overdo it. However, if you will > frequently perform queries based on the "logged" column, by all means, > this column should be indexed. > > Once the column is indexed, your initial query will actually be fastest > in a large data base: > > select * > from table > where .... > order by indexed_date_column desc limit 1; > > hth, > Mike Community email addresses: Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Shortcut URL to this page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/php-list Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/php-list/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
