Searching SQL with PHP

D_tunisia

I want to create a search function for my website. A lot of the free code avaliable on the 'net will only search standard html pages.

I want my search to initially search the main text field of my help desk -- for example, the text could be "If you have a problem with my outlook express email and also with attachments" and a user could seach for "Outlook Express attachments" and get the above as a result.

If anyone can point me in the right direction I would be greatful.

Thanks!

devinemke

where is all of your content stored? plain text files? database?

D_tunisia

In a SQL database.

devinemke

assuming your are using mySQL, you should really read up on Full-Text Search Functions. here's just an example:

$keywords = 'Outlook Express attachments';

$keywords = explode(' ', $keywords);
foreach ($keywords as $key => $value) {$keywords[$key] = '+' . $value;}
$keywords = implode(' ', $keywords);

mysql_query("SELECT * FROM table WHERE MATCH (field) AGAINST ('$keywords' IN BOOLEAN MODE)");

silent

And if you are using a slightly older version of MySQL, the IN BOOLEAN MODE will not work.

In that case, you need to read the MySQL manual for fine tuning full-text searches (unless you have LOTS of records to search from) as it will throw out any term that appears in 50% of the records out by default!