search function puzzle..wots going on?

[getphp]

I am have downloaded a search function and it seems to work wonders but How is the bottom code working within the search file?
Can someone help me understand exactly what the function below is doing.
Note: this is just a small part of the whole search.php file

function hl($str) {
	GLOBAL $lq;
	$str=" ".$str;

$ph=explode(" ",$lq);
$lstr=mysql_result(mysql_query("SELECT lower('$str')"),0,0);

for ($i=0;$i<count($ph);$i++) {
	$lstr=eregi_replace($ph[$i],"<b><font color=red>".$ph[$i]."</font></b>",$lstr);
	}

$p1=1;$p2=1;
while ($p1!=0 && $p2!=0) {
	if (($p1=strpos($lstr,"<b><font color=red>"))!=0) {
		$lstr[$p1]="|";
		$str=substr($str,0,$p1)."<b><font color=red>".substr($str,$p1);

		if (($p2=strpos($lstr,"</font></b>"))!=0) {
			$lstr[$p2]="|";
			$str=substr($str,0,$p2)."</font></b>".substr($str,$p2);
			}
		}
	}

$str=substr($str,1);
return($str);
}

[designguy79]

This is just a user-definted function that is called by the code elsewhere.

It looks like, to me, that it takes a string of words and "highlights" it in HTML (using the "bold" tag and a "font" tag that changes the text color to red).

Hard to tell exactly without seeing the code that calls the hl() function.

Do you have a page I could see, or part of the code that calls this function?

[getphp]

thanks for ur reply

I have spaced out the part where the hl function is being called:

while ($ar=mysql_fetch_array($r)) 
	{
		$admin="";
		if (isset($sid)) {
			$admin.="<font color=gray size=-3> [<a href=admin/edit.php?lid=".$ar["lid"]."&type=255 class=slink>".$LANG["edit"]."</a>] ";
			$admin.="[<a href=admin/moveto.php?lid=".$ar["lid"]."&type=1&to=2 class=slink>".$LANG["delete"]."</a>] [";
			for ($j=1;$j<11;$j++) {
				if ($j==$ar["moder_vote"]) $admin.="<B>".$j."</B> ";
				else $admin.="<a href=admin/vote.php?lid=".$ar["lid"]."&vote=$j&type=255 class=slink>".$j."</a> ";
				}
			$admin.="]</font>";
			}

	$template=$TMPL["linksbit"];
	$template=str_replace("%ID",$ar["lid"],$template);



$template=str_replace("%TITLE",hl($ar["title"]),$template);



$template=str_replace("%GIN",$ar["gin"],$template);
		$template=str_replace("%GOUT",$ar["gout"],$template);
		$template=str_replace("%MODERVOTE",$ar["moder_vote"],$template);
		$template=str_replace("%DESC",hl($ar["description"]),$template);
		$template=str_replace("%URL",hl($ar["url"]),$template);
		$template=str_replace("%BEST","<img src=./cat/star.gif width=15 height=16 hspace=3>",$template);
		$template=str_replace("%BROKENTEXT",$LANG["broken"],$template);
		$template=str_replace("%ADMINIFACE",$admin,$template);
		$template=str_replace("%RESFIELD1",$ar["resfield1"],$template);
		$template=str_replace("%RESFIELD2",$ar["resfield2"],$template);
		$template=str_replace("%RESFIELD3",$ar["resfield3"],$template);
		print $template;
		}

$template=$TMPL["searchbottom"];
}

[getphp]

also what is this line doing exactly ?

 $lstr[$p1]="|"; 

Dont understand the point of that symbol ??

[designguy79]

How deep does the rabbit's hole go??

This is a great example at why you should place informative comments as you code -- it is a headache trying to figure out what the code does.

I mean, from a line-to-line point of view I could tell you what the code is doing. But I think you want to understand it as a whole, and that means you have to look the whole of the code.

I am afraid that I cannot be of any further assistance unless you have specific questions about the way it is working or not working. What exactly are you trying to accomplish by understanding this script?

[getphp]

Originally posted by getphp
also what is this line doing exactly ?

 $lstr[$p1]="|"; 

Dont understand the point of that symbol ?? [/B]

Agreed indeed!! it is not my code which is whats making life difficult.

Anyhow i am simply trying to understand it so to improve my understanding of how they have coded their search. It is part of the 'Cncat' program.

[designguy79]

Well... it would be terribly difficult to explain in a couple paragraphs, that is for sure.

Your best bet is to just roll up your sleeves and dig in. Read, experiment, read, experiment, repeat.

One final thought -- this code that you sent doesn't have anything to do with the actual search part. It is just formatting things before it goes into the template, if I am reading it correctly.

Have fun!