code flow; how would you structure this in CI?

[eluser]Dave Rau[/eluser]
So I've got two tables with some data; one has some contact info and another is an application for a grant. I'd like to set something up that's similar to scaffolding, but with more refined control over dropdowns, textarea sizes, multi-columns, etc. The straight up scaffolding just doesn't cut it for my needs.

So what's the best way to setup a view and controller for this? One view with a table join to display the data, then how would the controller handle the data? How do I know which fields belong to which update? How have you handled this before?

I'm just looking for some starting points, I feel pretty good about the code, but I'm kind of stuck on the concepts right now.

Thanks!