SQL query inputs and logic

Anon

Hello
Ive been working on accessing a MySQL database from a web i know its sounding easy so far but im new to php and sql . I have a page with four object in a form :

keyword : text field
location :combo box
value : combo box
type : combo box

the hard part is that i need to write a query so when if one of these boxes is left empty it will take it as a wildcard.Below is what ive been trying , im not too good at sql so it might be wrong

$query = "select * from table where title like '$keyword' or location like '$location' or type like '$inputtype' or (value > min AND value < max)";

note: in the value combo box there are ranges to choose from like 125-500 ,501-700 and it takes the users choice and sets the min and max values to the required values.

Any help with this problem would be great , thanks in advance

maxxx

Try something like this (I know, value should be splitted, but you're there for something ;P) :

//start building query string
$query = "select * from table ";
//start building where string
$where = "WHERE\n"
//if condition is valid, add to array of conditions
if ($location !="") $cond[] = " (LOCATION LIKE '%$location%')";
//idem
if ($inputType !="") $cond[] = " (TYPE = '$inputType')";
//ibidem
if ($value!="") $cond[] = "(VALUE = '$value')";
//Turn conditions array int a OR-separated string
$conditions = join ($cond, " OR ");
//If there's at least one condition, cat strings to query string
$query .= ($where != "WHERE")? $where.$conditions : "";

Hope it helps,

Maxxx