Hi! I have a tests database that has questions (one table is "questions" and a field in this table is "uid" and another field is "question") there is also a Testerator table in my tests database, which organizes questions by section and keeps track of test number (as field "Quid") SO I would like to obtain a list (with no repeats) of questions that are found in the questions database, but which are NOT used in a particular test. I therefore set up $GlobalUsed which finds all questions which are used somwhere in a particular test and shoves these into a temporary table, as such: $GlobalUsed=MYSQL_QUERY("CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE usedGlobal Select a.Quid, b.question, b.uid from testerator a, questions b where (a.TestID='$uid') and (a.Quid=b.uid)"); Next, $Global Unused is established, which finds all questions in the questions table which are not found in the testerator table for the particular test in which I am interested. $GlobalUnused=MYSQL_QUERY("select * from questions, usedGlobal where questions.uid != usedGlobal.uid "); HOWEVER, when I use $row = mysql_fetch_array($GlobalUnused) in a while loop to display all the unused questions, I get numerous repeats. I have TWO questions for any gurus willing to share their guru-ness: 1. Can I do this in such a way as to get a DISTINCT unused question list (I tried select * DISTINCT in both above statements, to no avail, and I tried it with DISTINCT and then finished with and ORDER BY clause, but again these didn't work for me -- I ended up getting no results ). 2. If I have to use the temporary table (because without sub-selects I'm not sure how to get the same results) that is fine. But is there a way to amalgamate both commands as one select statement and dispense entirely with the temporary table? Thanks so much! -Warren --------------------------------------------------------------------- Before posting, please check: http://www.mysql.com/manual.php (the manual) http://lists.mysql.com/ (the list archive) To request this thread, e-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, e-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Trouble unsubscribing? Try: http://lists.mysql.com/php/unsubscribe.php