Boolean searches

[TCovert]

I need Help!! I have no idea how to setup a boolean search. I have multiple fields that I would like to dynamically search on, depending on what fields the user fills in to search by. How do I set this up?

Any ideas?

Please Help!

[sarahk]

you query is just string passed to the database so you can say

$sql = "select * from mytable where active = 1 "
if ($needsSkills)
 $sql .= " and skills > 0 "

if ($needsCar)
  $sql .= " and car = 1 "

then pass $sql to the database

better still you can echo out $sql during debugging to see why you query didn't work and test it manually.

[barand]

Its a matter of building the WHERE conditions in the SQL query.

$query = "SELECT * FROM tablename WHERE $condition";

First you have to build $condition.

Simple case, 2 options, $fieldval1, $fieldval2, both text fields.

$condition = "";

if ($fieldval1 != "") $condition .= " field1 = '$fieldval1' ";

if ($condition != "") $condition .= " AND ";

if ($fieldval2 != "") $condition .= " field2 = '$fieldval2' ";

I admit it's not the most elegant coding but it should explain the principle.

[TCovert]

Answer me this.

In a database, with a field named bodytext:

If bodytext contains: "This is the bodytext of the record."

if I search for "record", should it pull up that record?

If it is supposed to, and isn't, any suggestions on how to fix that?

[ednark]

SELECT
*
FROM
table
WHERE
column LIKE '%searchfor%'

% is a catch all when used with LIKE