Efficient way to generate prev and next links for navigation purposes, to traverse between records in a table/pod/post-type. Assumes you are using PODS framework.

gistfile1.txt

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/***** a more complex way to get adjacent records based on some parameters *****/
THE CODE
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<?php
// grab the id for the current post

	$theBookId = get_the_ID();

// grab some related taxonomy to filter by

	$terms = wp_get_post_terms( $theBookId, 'country' );
	foreach ( $terms as $term ) {
	   $relatedCountry = $term->slug; 
	}
	
// get next/prev records within a pod from a detail page view

	$theSlugs = array();
	$names = array();
	$theArt = array();
	$burl = get_bloginfo('url')."/book/";
	$theSlug = pods_url_variable();
	
	//Get the pods data and load it into an array
	$Record = pods('book');
	$RecordParams = array('limit'=>-1, 'orderby'=>'release_date ASC', 'where'=>"country.slug='$relatedCountry'");
	$Record->find($RecordParams);
	$count = $Record->getTotalRows();
	$i = 0;
	while($Record->fetch()){
	  
	  // if you want to make the pres/next links more creative, you could things like grab graphics from the adjacent posts and use them as backgrounds or whatever. Below is a way to handle a 'marquee_artwork' field. You would declare it in your link with something like <img src="'.$theArt[$ppos].'"> ($ppos for prev and $npos for next) Obviously remove these art variables if you aren't going to use them.
	  $i++;
	  $theSlugs[$i] = $Record->field('slug');
	  $names[$i] = $Record->field('post_title');
	  $art = $Record->field('marquee_artwork.guid');
	  $theArt[$i] = $art[0];
	  
	}
	
	// in case nothing is defined, show nothing:
	$prev_link = '';
	$next_link = '';
	
$page_no = 1;
	$Record->resetPointer(0);
	
	//See if something is defined. If not, links go to the base url defined above ($burl)
	
	$key = array_search($theSlug, $theSlugs);
	if ($key) {
	   $ppos = 0 == $key ? $count : $key-1;
	   $prev_link = '<a href="'.$burl.$theSlugs[$ppos].'" class="prevBook" title="'.$names[$ppos].'">View<span>Prev</span></a>';
	
	   $npos = $count == $key ? 0 : $key+1;
	   $next_link = '<a href="'.$burl.$theSlugs[$npos].'" class="nextBook" title="'.$names[$npos].'">View<span>Next</span></a>';
	
	   $page_no = $key+1;
	   $Record->resetPointer($key);
	
	} 
?>

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THE MARKUP
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<div class="bookNavigation">
    <?php if($prev_link){ echo $prev_link; } ?>
    <?php if($next_link){ echo $next_link; } ?>
</div>





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ALTERNATE METHOD
just gets adjacent items in table - not really the best approach because entries are not necessarily going to be entered into the database in sequence/order. See first method for more accurate results.
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<?php
    global $post;
    $post_slug = $post->post_name;
    $theCurrentId = get_the_ID();
    $postType = 'appearances';  // declare what table you want
    $thePod = pods($postType);
    $next = $thePod->next_id($theCurrentId);
    $prev = $thePod->prev_id($theCurrentId);
    $nextItem = pods($postType, $next);
    $nextLink = $nextItem->field('permalink');
    $prevItem = pods($postType, $prev);
    $prevLink = $prevItem->field('permalink');	
?>

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THE MARKUP
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<?php if($prev) {?>
	 <div class="left"><a href="<?php echo $prevLink; ?>">View<span>Prev</span></a></div>
<?php } ?>
<?php if($next) { ?>
	 <div class="right"><a href="<?php echo $nextLink; ?>">View<span>Next</span></a></div>
<?php } ?>