meaning of the php term

[joon]

if($sname=='1')
$strWhere .= " and (place like '%UN Building%' or place like '%Manhattan%')";

I think it means;
if the value of the sname(search name) is "1",
call the posting that has the word "UN"+ the word "Manhattan".

question:
(Q1)what is the meaning of "$str"?
(Q2)what is the meaning of "."?
(Q3)what is the meaning of "%"?
(Q4)what is the meaning of "like"?

Thanks in advance

[xblue]

Hi,

glad you didn't give up completely.

$strWhere is just a variable name. probably it holds a part of the query that is used to get the records from the database.

. is the concatenation operator in php. it appends to what the variable contained before.

% and like are not php, this is sql (structured query language) which is used to communicate with the database. % is a wildcard (like * in many other situations) which needs to be used with the keyword like.

Hope I was able to explain it well...

[planetsim]

I suggest going here

http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.operators.comparison.php
http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.operators.arithmetic.php

Where most of your answers can be answered

[joon]

Thanks to xlue for your kind explanation and encouraging me.
and
Thans to planetsim for your guide.