flag record as delete instead of deleting the record from mysql table

Question

i want to know how to proceed to flag records as deleted instead of physically deleting the record from the database. I never came across such a thing before. Is there any tutorial i can follow?

Answer 1

Easiest way is to add a new BOOL column to the table like enabled with a default value of 1 .

Then UPDATE table_name SET enabled = 0 when you would like to "delete" the row.

And filter out "deleted" rows in your queries like:

SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE ... AND enabled = 1

Answer 2

Use an extra boolean field in your table to denote if the entry is valid or not.

TableName(<Your Fields>,Valid)

Valid =1 , then it is present.

Valid =0, then it is deleted.

Answer 3

There's nothing intrinsic in MySQL to flag a record as deleted - but you can add your your own column to describe the state - you just need need to remember to exclude it from your queries. The complication arises when you try to insert a row with unique/primary keys matching your deleted record; you'll need to add a trigger to amend the state. Really a simpler option is to just delete the data in the first place (you don't say what you're trying to achieve by not deleting the row)