mysql query question

[ipa]

I have a form with textboxes whose input is submitted to query a database.
This part works fine, but i am trying to figure out how to not include a textbox input in the query if nothing is entered. For example, if I have a table with two fields 'animals' and 'color' and want to find all dogs regardless of color, I want to be able to enter 'dogs' in the 'animal' textbox and leave the 'color' textbox blank. Currently, I only get back dogs with no color listed.

I have tried to research this but have had no luck.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[leatherback]

Hi,

How about something like:

if($POST[animal] == "")
{
$animal = '%';
}
else
{
$animal = $POST[animal];
}

this would in your query result in an accept all if the field is empty, or the specified value if something is specified.

An other way is to build your query from subsets, but this is a bit more complex, with the 'where' and the 'and' statements..

J