searching mysql text fields for strings

ronjon

does anybody know if there is such a (returns bool preferrably) fucntion in php or mysql that would search a field for a particular string...returning true if the string is present anywhere in the field.

for example

if i had a field named 'description' in a table that held descriptions of products as 'text'. is there anything that i can use to search that field for the presence of the word 'quintessential' ... or any other word; or do i have to manually parse the text and search for the string with my own logic.

thanks in advance...
ron

TheDefender

In MySQL, you could use a LIKE syntax...

SELECT * FROM table WHERE somefield LIKE '%searchterm%'
Then do a count to determine the number of records returned...

TheDefender

In PHP itself, you may want to look at the strpos() function...

$mystring = "This is the description of the product.  This may work for you."; 
$findme   = "snapple"; 

if (strpos($mystring, $findme)) { 
   echo "Yep, '".$findme."' is in the text."; 
} else { 
   echo "Nope, '".$findme."' isn't there."; 
} 

$findme = "work";
if (strpos($mystring, $findme)) { 
   echo "Yep, '".$findme."' is in the text."; 
} else { 
   echo "Nope, '".$findme."' isn't there."; 
}

This is using predefined variables, but can easily be modded to work with a results set from a MySQL query or an array.

ronjon

that you rock a lot. thanks a bunch... you saved me a bunch of time.

sincere thanks,
ron

BuzzLY

Actually, he didn't. Your question to response time was just under an hour. A good look in the manual would probably have taken 5 minutes. Not to sound too harsh, but this question should probably have gone into the Newbie forum -- this is a very basic function, and is well documented in the manual.

planetsim

Hmm must agree with Buzz on this one also the MySQL function would work much quicker then php's in this case http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/String_functions.html#IDX1302

TheDefender

:glare: hmmmm.... I hope I didn't offend anyone here. (Buzz, planet) I was just trying to help...

planetsim

Well i dont know about Buzz but I wasnt talking about yourself.

BuzzLY

You always offend me, Defender. :evilgrin:

But not this time 😃

TheDefender

Fair enough... LOL You all had me worried for a moment.