Getting the most recent message in a thread - php

Question

I have a query that gets all the info I need for a messaging system's main page (including unread message count, etc)... but it currently retrieves the original threads message. I would like to augment the below query to grab the most recent message in each thread instead.
This query is very close, however my mediocre SQL skills are keeping me from wrapping things up...
$messages = array();
$unread_messages_total = 0;
$messages_query = "
SELECT m.*
, COUNT(r.id) AS num_replies
, MAX(r.datetime) AS reply_datetime
, (m.archived NOT LIKE '%,".$cms_user['id'].",%') AS message_archive
, (m.viewed LIKE '%,".$cms_user['id'].",%') AS message_viewed
, SUM(r.viewed NOT LIKE '%,".$cms_user['id'].",%') AS unread_replies
, CASE
WHEN MAX(r.datetime) >= m.datetime THEN MAX(r.datetime)
ELSE m.datetime
END AS last_datetime
FROM directus_messages AS m
LEFT JOIN directus_messages as r ON m.id = r.reply
WHERE m.active = '1'
AND (m.to LIKE '%,".$cms_user['id'].",%' OR m.to = 'all' OR m.from = '".$cms_user['id']."')
GROUP BY m.id
HAVING m.reply = '0'
ORDER BY last_datetime DESC";
foreach($dbh->query($messages_query) as $row_messages){
$messages[] = $row_messages;
$unread_messages_total += (strpos($row_messages['archived'], ','.$cms_user['id'].',') === false && ( (strpos($row_messages['viewed'], ','.$cms_user['id'].',') === false && $row_messages['unread_replies'] == NULL) || ($row_messages['unread_replies']>0 && $row_messages['unread_replies'] != NULL) ) )? 1 : 0;
}
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!
EDIT: (Database)
CREATE TABLE `cms_messages` (
`id` int(10) NOT NULL auto_increment,
`active` tinyint(1) NOT NULL default '1',
`subject` varchar(255) NOT NULL default '',
`message` text NOT NULL,
`datetime` datetime NOT NULL default '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
`reply` int(10) NOT NULL default '0',
`from` int(10) NOT NULL default '0',
`to` varchar(255) NOT NULL default '',
`viewed` varchar(255) NOT NULL default ',',
`archived` varchar(255) NOT NULL default ',',
PRIMARY KEY (`id`)
) ENGINE=MyISAM AUTO_INCREMENT=1 DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1;
EDIT 2: (Requirements)
Return all parent messages for a specific user_id: $cms_user['id']
Return the number of replies for that parent message: num_replies
Return the number of unread replies for that parent message: unread_replies
Return the date of the parent message or it's most recent reply: last_datetime
Return whether the message is in the archive: message_archive
Return whether the message has been viewed: message_viewed
Return all messages in DESC datetime order
Return the newest message, from the parent or replies if there are some (like gmail)

Answer 1

If you have only 2 levels of messages (i.e., only parent messages and direct answers), you might try this query:
select
root_message.id,
root_message.active,
root_message.subject,
case
when max_reply_id.max_id is null then
root_message.message
else
reply_message.message
end as message,
root_message.datetime,
root_message.reply,
root_message.from,
root_message.to,
root_message.viewed,
root_message.archived
from
-- basic data
cms_messages as root_message
-- ID of last reply for every root message
left join (
select
max(id) as max_id,
reply as parent_id
from
cms_messages
where
reply <> 0
group by
reply
) as max_reply_id on max_reply_id.parent_id = root_message.id
left join cms_messages as reply_message on reply_message.id = max_reply_id.max_id
where
root_message.reply = 0
It uses subquery max_reply_id as source of data to select ID of the latest answer. If it exists (i.e., if there are answers), reply_message.message is used. If it does not exist (no answer has been found for root message), then root_message.message is used.
You should also think about structure of table. E.g., it would make more sense if reply contained either NULL, if it is parent message, or ID of existing message. Currently, you set it to 0 (ID of non-existent message), which is wrong. Types of viewed and archived are also weird.
Edit: you should also avoid using having clause. Use where instead, when possible.
Here's a new query that should fulfil your requirements. If there is any problem with it (i.e., if it returns wrong data), let me know.
Like the first query, it:
uses subquery reply_summary to accumulate data about replies (ID of last reply, number of replies and number of unread replies);
joins this subquery to the base table;
joins cms_messages as reply_message to the subquery, based on reply_summary.max_reply_id, to get data about the last reply (message, datetime).
I've simplified the way how you determine last_datetime - it now takes either time of last reply (if there is any reply), or time of original post (when no replies are found).
I have not filtered replies by from and to fields. If it is necessary, where clause of reply_summary subquery should be updated.
select
parent_message.id,
parent_message.subject,
parent_message.message,
parent_message.from,
parent_message.to,
coalesce(reply_summary.num_replies, 0) as num_replies,
last_reply_message.datetime as reply_datetime,
(parent_message.archived NOT LIKE '%,{$cms_user['id']},%') AS message_archive,
(parent_message.viewed LIKE '%,{$cms_user['id']},%') AS message_viewed,
reply_summary.unread_replies,
coalesce(last_reply_message.message, parent_message.message) as last_message,
coalesce(last_reply_message.datetime, parent_message.datetime) as last_datetime
from
cms_messages as parent_message
left join (
select
reply as parent_id,
max(id) as last_reply_id,
count(*) as num_replies,
sum(viewed not like '%,{$cms_user['id']},%') as unread_replies
from
cms_messages
where
reply <> 0 and
active = 1
group by
reply
) as reply_summary on reply_summary.parent_id = parent_message.id
left join cms_messages as last_reply_message on last_reply_message.id = reply_summary.last_reply_id
where
parent_message.reply = 0 and
parent_message.active = 1 and
(parent_message.to like '%,{$cms_user['id']},%' or parent_message.to = 'all' or parent_message.from = '{$cms_user['id']}')
order by
last_datetime desc;

Answer 2

your problem is that you are fetching only m records no matter what the order of the r records.
try adding
SELECT m.*, r.*
or
SELECT r.*, m.*
if you are using PDO::FETCH_ASSOC as your PDO fetch mode (assuming you are using PDO to access your database), the result will be an associative array where if the result set contains multiple columns with the same name, PDO::FETCH_ASSOC returns only a single value per column name. not sure which order takes presidence, so you would have to try both.
if your columns are defined in the right order, they will return the r.* value if one exists, or the m.* value if no r records exist. does this make sense? this way your result set will contain the latest record no matter which table (m or r) contains them.
http://www.php.net/manual/en/pdo.constants.php

Answer 3

I am afraid that you wont be able to solve this problem with a single query. Either you have to use more queries and gather the informations in the surrounding code or you will have to redesign the database structure for your messaging system a litte (tables: threads, posts, etc.). If you decide to redesign the database structure, you should also take care of the way you handle the viewed and archived fields. The way you use the fields (varchar 255 only!) might work for some users, but as soon as there are more users and higher user IDs your message system will break down.