[ic] How to "lock" a record?

[DB]

I'm developing a 5.2/foundation based catalog to allow several people to
collaborate on order processing. The order data is stored in a mysql
table. I'm nearly finished except for one issue. I need to be sure that
only one person at a time is working on a given order.

My first thought is to add a new column to the table that holds the
order records, and have users "sign out" the records they're working on
by entering their initials into that field.

Does anyone have a better way or any other suggestions? Maybe there is
an existing mechanism that addresses this problem? All suggestions are
welcome.

DB