Comparing and replacing part of a form variable?

[bobII]

Below is some code I wrote that queries a database to pull up product names from a database. The 'kwords' field in the database contains product names and product codes.

Here's an example record from the kwords field:

5000
Reducing Adapter

The product code '5000' has several products within it. For example, 5000-05, 5000-10, 5000-15. The problem lies when a user enters in 5000-05 and tries to search, it will come up with 'No products found'. But if the user enters in the code '5000' it will find all products.... I guess my question is if someone enters 5000-05, how do I go about stripping the '-05' from it so it will find the proper results?

<? 
  if ( !$searchterm )
  {
     echo "You have not entered search details.  Please go back and try again.";	 
     exit; 
  }

  $searchterm = addslashes($searchterm);

  @ $db = mysql_connect("localhost", "db1", "*****");

  if (!$db)
  {
     echo "Error: Could not connect to database.  Please try again later.";
     exit;
  }
  mysql_select_db("db1");


$input_array=explode(" ",$searchterm);
$cnt=count($input_array);

$stmt = "SELECT tnail, code, title FROM general WHERE kwords like '%".$input_array[0]."%'";



if ($cnt > 1)
  {
     for ($i=1;$i<=($cnt-1);$i++)
       {
        $stmt = $stmt." and kwords like '%".$input_array[$i]."%'";
       }
   }

$result = mysql_query($stmt);
$num_results = mysql_num_rows($result);

# Output statements, amout of items, string used
echo "<br><b>Number of products found: ".$num_results."</b>";
echo "<br>Search string used:<b><i> ".$searchterm."</i></b>";

$cnt = "1";
for ($i=0; $i <$num_results; $i++) 
{
$row = mysql_fetch_array($result);
$a_tnail = stripslashes($row["tnail"]);
$a_code = stripslashes($row["code"]);
$a_title = stripslashes($row["title"]);

echo "<table width=97% border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=1 bordercolor=ececec>";
echo "<tr bgcolor=#ececec></tr>";
echo "<tr><td width =100><div align=center><img src=http://www.********.com/html/products/$a_tnail></div></td>";
echo "<td width = 100><div align=center><font color=#333333 size=2 face=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif><a href=page.php?page=$a_code><b>$a_code</b></a></font></div></td>";	
echo "<td><div align=left><font color=#333333 size=2 face=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif>$a_title</div></font></td></tr>";
echo "<br>";
echo "</table>"; 
echo " <!-- end of table -->";
}

?>

Thanks in advance!
- bobII

[bobII]

After doing some more reading on php.net, I realized I could use the strtr function to remove the '-' by doing the following:

$searchterm = strtr($searchterm, "-", " ");  

Now that gets rid of the '-' in the inputted value, but how do I remove the numbers that would appear after that? For example, 5000-05, I would need to remove the '05' after the '-' as well.... Ideally, it would remove all numeric values after the '-'

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[bobII]

I need to figure out how to remove the digits from the input variable after the '-' mark....

$searchterm = strtr($searchterm, "-", " "); 

The above code removes the '-' but I need to figure out how to remove the trailing numeric values. For example, after the strtr product number 5000-05 will now become 5000 05, how do I remove the 05? Could I use an If statement? If so, how would I compare the variable?

Can anyone give me a hand on this?

Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

[tsinka]

Hi,

you can do something like e.g. this:

<?PHP
  $str = "5000-dasdas";
  if (preg_match("§^(\\d+).*§",$str)) {
    $str = preg_replace("§^(\\d+).*§","$1",$str);
  }
  echo $str;
?>

That extracts all digits at the beginning of the search term but only if it starts with a digit.

Thomas

[bobII]

Originally posted by tsinka
Hi,

you can do something like e.g. this:

<?PHP
  $str = "5000-dasdas";
  if (preg_match("§^(\\d+).*§",$str)) {
    $str = preg_replace("§^(\\d+).*§","$1",$str);
  }
  echo $str;
?>

That extracts all digits at the beginning of the search term but only if it starts with a digit.

Thomas [/B]

Thanks for the help Thomas!

The database has about 10000 products. I simply want to remove the '-' and any numbers that trail it. I want to leave the numbers before the '-' alone......

[Installer]

$input_string = '5000-05';
$hyphen_position = strpos($input_string, '-');
$new_string = substr($input_string, 0, $hyphen_position);
echo $new_string . '<br />';

[bobII]

Originally posted by Installer

$input_string = '5000-05';
$hyphen_position = strpos($input_string, '-');
$new_string = substr($input_string, 0, $hyphen_position);
echo $new_string . '<br />';

[/B]

I plugged that into my existing code, made a few changes to my script and for numeric values it works great! But now, if the variable is a not numeric, it strips it as well. For example, if the input variable contains "glass bottle" instead of "5000-05" it doesn't function as it should... How could I change the code around so if the input variable contain a alpha value and not be touched? Also, have php strip the '-' and the numbers that trail....

I have a few $$$ I could paypal someone if they can come up with a solution 😃

Thanks,
bobII

[Installer]

See if this does what you want:

$input_string = '5000-05';
if (is_numeric(substr($input_string, 0, 1))) {
    $hyphen_position = strpos($input_string, '-'); 
    $input_string = substr($input_string, 0, $hyphen_position); 
}
echo $input_string . '<br />';

If it does (or even if it doesn't 🙂 ) send something to the Red Cross.

[bobII]

Originally posted by Installer
See if this does what you want:

$input_string = '5000-05';
if (is_numeric(substr($input_string, 0, 1))) {
    $hyphen_position = strpos($input_string, '-'); 
    $input_string = substr($input_string, 0, $hyphen_position); 
}
echo $input_string . '<br />';

If it does (or even if it doesn't 🙂 ) send something to the Red Cross. [/B]

damn, we're like 98% there! The problem now is if someone enters a numeric value WITHOUT a '-', it becomes an invalid search, for example:

If someone enters '5000' the search results are invalid. But if someone enters '5000-05', the results are perfect. The same thing goes for an alpha entry....

How could I say if is_numeric and a '-' is present then... if not, leave alone?

[Installer]

$input_string = '5000-05';
if (is_numeric(substr($input_string, 0, 1))) {
    if (($hyphen_position = strpos($input_string, '-')) !== false) {
        $input_string = substr($input_string, 0, $hyphen_position);
    } 
}
echo $input_string . '<br />';

[bobII]

Originally posted by Installer

$input_string = '5000-05';
if (is_numeric(substr($input_string, 0, 1))) {
    if (($hyphen_position = strpos($input_string, '-')) !== false);
        $input_string = substr($input_string, 0, $hyphen_position); 
}
echo $input_string . '<br />';

[/B]

That didn't do it.... I still get an erroneous results if a user enters in a numeric value without a '-' in it... For exmaple:

5000

Once again, I really appreciate your help!

[bobII]

Originally posted by Installer

$input_string = '5000-05';
if (is_numeric(substr($input_string, 0, 1))) {
    if (($hyphen_position = strpos($input_string, '-')) !== false) {
        $input_string = substr($input_string, 0, $hyphen_position);
    } 
}
echo $input_string . '<br />';

[/B]

You are the man! Please pm me your paypal address so I can send a few $$$ your way... I really appreciate your help! I'm going to study the code so I understand each step and how it works!

Thanks again,
bobII

[Installer]

Are you sure? It works for me. (I edited it, but that was only cosmetic. But I re-tested both the pre-edited and edited versions.) Are you maybe loading a cached page? Just in case, here it is again:

$input_string = '5000-5';
if (is_numeric(substr($input_string, 0, 1))) {
    if (($hyphen_position = strpos($input_string, '-')) !== false) {
        $input_string = substr($input_string, 0, $hyphen_position);
    } 
}
echo $input_string . '<br />';

[Installer]

Our posts crossed. I'm glad it worked for you. If you don't mind, just give the money to the Red Cross.