MySQL two tables and an uneven number of rows

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Hello All,
Hoping you can help clear my head on this. I have two MySQL tables for =
custom fields data to be stored.

	custom_fields			custom_fields_meta

custom_fields is the info for the actual field displayed in the html and =
custom_fields_meta is the data stored from entering a value on said =
field in the form.

Custom fields can be added and removed at will by the user and so when =
for instance, adding a field,=20
it currently creates an uneven number of rows in the custom_fields_meta =
if there were any entries with fields create prior to this new one.

Currently I have this code:

$SQL =3D "SELECT ft.*, mt.Meta_Value=20
		FROM `CUSTOM_FIELDS` ft=20
		LEFT JOIN `CUSTOM_FIELDS_META` mt=20
		ON mt.Field_ID =3D ft.Field_ID=20
		WHERE mt.Order_ID=3D%d=20
		ORDER BY ft.Field_ID ASC";

I have tried JOIN, FULL JOIN, FULL OUTER JOIN, OUTER JOIN and LEFT JOIN.=20=

If I manually put in the missing rows in the meta table, left join =
works.
However, manually updating prior entries is not going to happen.=20

So my question is how do I get all the table rows in both tables even if =
there is not a row to match on the meta table?
or
How would I update the prior entries to include this new field in the =
meta table and keep things orderly?
The meta is stored per order id and so there is groups of meta data per =
order id. I would like to avoid scattered data.
Is there a way to push the index down to fit them in or is this just =
going to be too costly on server resources?

TIA,

Best,

Karl DeSaulniers
Design Drumm
http://designdrumm.com <http://designdrumm.com/>





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