How can PHP developers handle situations where deleting a record in one table affects related records in another table, as seen in the example of user requests and offers?

When deleting a record in one table that is related to records in another table, PHP developers can use foreign key constraints with cascading deletes. This ensures that when a record is deleted in the parent table, related records in the child table are also automatically deleted. By setting up the database schema with proper foreign key constraints, developers can handle these situations effectively.

// Example of setting up foreign key constraints with cascading deletes in MySQL
$pdo = new PDO("mysql:host=localhost;dbname=mydatabase", "username", "password");

$pdo->exec("SET FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS=0");

$pdo->exec("ALTER TABLE child_table ADD CONSTRAINT fk_parent_id FOREIGN KEY (parent_id) REFERENCES parent_table(id) ON DELETE CASCADE");

$pdo->exec("SET FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS=1");