MySQL query

where to start

[WhosAWhata]

Though i am getting quite fluent in PHP, i'm a beginner in the field of MySQL,

i need to do a few queries,
my table looks something like this

+----+--+---+ 
¦info¦ 1 ¦ 1 ¦ 
+----+--+---+ 
¦more¦ 1 ¦ 2 ¦ 
+----+--+---+ 
¦some¦ 1 ¦ 3 ¦ 
+----+--+---+ 
¦wow¦ 2 ¦ 1 ¦ 
+----+--+---+ 
¦yes ¦ 2 ¦ 2 ¦ 
+----+--+---+

i have one column that groups the data, and one that creates the seperate "call numbers" for that group.

i need to find the biggest value in the first column, then find the highest value in that group

i would appreciate code, but more than that, i would like a place to learn the structure of the queries, PHP.net is very unhelpful for that.

thanks

[coopster]

You mean you want to sort the columns in descending order?

SELECT * FROM table ORDER BY column2 DESC, column3 DESC;

You're right, you won't find much help on SQL on the PHP site. Better off trying the MySQL tutorial [dev.mysql.com] or search the net for "learn sql".

[WhosAWhata]

the code you gave me just rearranged the table, how do i put the highest value of column 2 and the higest value of column 3 into variables
say
$col2 = highest from column 2
$col3 = highest from column 3 with that value of column 2

in the case i provided
$col2 = "2";
$col3 = "2";
even though column 3 has a 3 in it, that row has a lower value in column 2

[coopster]

Assign the query to a variable then use mysql_query() [php.net] to run the query, then use mysql_fetch_assoc() [php.net] to get the values from the result set.

$sql = "SELECT * FROM table ORDER BY column2 DESC, column3 DESC"; 
$rows = mysql_query($sql); 
$row = mysql_fetch_assoc($rows);  
$col2 = $row['column2'];  
$col3 = $row['column3']; 
print "$col2<br />"; 
print "$col2<br />"; 

[WhosAWhata]

it works great! thanks a bunch coop!

one thing though,
how can i allow that if a user enters the address as page.php?col2=1

then it will find the biggest value for col3 with respect to that col2?

i took a stab in the dark by making it so that if a value is already present for col2 it will use this query instead
$sql = "SELECT * FROM table WHERE col2 IS $col2 ORDER BY col3 DESC";

it didn't work

[coopster]

Close, but you have to get the syntax right:

$sql = "SELECT * FROM table WHERE col2 = $col2 ORDER BY col3 DESC";

[WhosAWhata]

thanks, exactly what i needed, i'll look at some tutoruals when i get a chance