get the last id from a table; both the last known id and last auto_increment value

gistfile1.txt

  // next auto increment value
	$result = mysql_query("SHOW TABLE STATUS LIKE 'tablename'");
	$row = mysql_fetch_array($result);
	return $row['Auto_increment'];
  
  // last (highest) id on table
	$result = mysql_query("SELECT MAX(id) as lastid FROM `tablename`");
	$row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result);
	return $row['lastid'];