[Resolved] Help on search feature

[rathersurf]

Can anyone tell me how to build a search feature like on this page. I am fairly new to php. I guess what should i be looking for. Im not looking for someone to do this for me, just a little guidence.

http://www.cpschools.com/Schools/arlist_alt.php?school=GRM

Thanks

[bpat1434]

Basically you have to set up a database to have the columsn of:
Titles, Authors, Grade Level(s).

Then when you do the search you just look in the database for all the ones that meet your need. If no "Keyword" is specified, you select all. If a keyword is specified, you select all of the titles/authors (or both) that are LIKE %INPUT%.

You should sit down, and really plan it out. A pencil and paper would help you work it out. How do you want it to search, what type of search do you want to return?

~Brett

[rathersurf]

Ok I have a database ... The columns are set up as follows:
Quiz_no
Book_Title
Author
Reading_Level
Point_Value
School

I have three pages , index.php selects the school and sets into a session var. index then goes to searchlist.php which is where i have a keyword search, option search by title, author or both and I have a grades search option to search by all , k-3, 4-6, 7-8 the option searh and the grade search are set up as radio buttons, the keyword of course is a text box. I somewhat understand how to pass the variables (i assume in a session as well) but how would i query the db and display the results ....

[bpat1434]

You really don't need to set session vars for the search, unless you want to. But basically, you'd grab the values in PHP, then run a quick query. You just have to build it dynamically:

<?php
if(isset($_POST['submit']) && !empty($_POST['submit']))
{
    $word = $_POST['keyword'];
    $area = $_POST['area'];
    $grade = $_POST['grade'];

$query = "SELECT * FROM `table_name` WHERE ";

if($area == "both")
{
    $query .= "(Author LIKE '%$keyword%' OR Book_Title LIKE '%$keyword%') ";
}
elseif($area == "author")
{
    $query .= "Author LIKE '%$keyword%' ";
}
else
{
    $query .= "Book_Title LIKE '%$keyword%' ";
}
$query .= "AND Reading_Level = '$grade'";

$result = mysql_query($query) or die("Search Failed.  Please try again later.");

echo "<table>
    <tr><th>Title</th><th>Author</th><th>Reading Level</th></tr>";
while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result))
{
    echo '<tr><td>'.$row['Book_Title'].'</td><td>'.$row['Author'].'</td><td>'.$row['Reading_Level'].'</td></tr>';
}
echo "</table>";
}
else
{
?>
<form action="" method="post">
Keyword: <input type="text" name="keyword"><br>
Search By: 
<input type="radio" name="area" value="author"> Author 
<input type="radio" name="area" value="title" checked> Title 
<input type="radio" name="area" value="both"> Both<br>
Grade Level: 
<input type="radio" name="grade" value="k-3"> K - 3 
<input type="radio" name="area"
value="4-6"> 4 - 6 
<input type="radio" name="area" value="7-8"> 7 - 8<br>
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="submit">
</form>
<?php
}
?>

That's not guaranteed to work 100%, but get you moving in the right direction.

~Brett

[rathersurf]

Thank you for you help, that helped and got me on the right track ... here is what i have for anyone else that might need an example. I ended up using get instead of post, not sure if that is better or worse but it works now ....

$keyword = $_GET['keyword'];
$option = $_GET['option'];
$grade = $_GET['grade'];
echo "<br>"; 
//make the connection
$conn = mysql_connect("localhost", "root", "password");
mysql_select_db("arlist", $conn);
//create a query
$sql = "Select * FROM Book_List WHERE School='035' AND "; 

if($option == "author")  

    { 
        $sql .= "(Author LIKE '%$keyword%')"; 
    }
elseif($option == "title") 
    { 
        $sql .= "(Book_Title LIKE '%$keyword%')";
    } 
else//($option == "both") 
    { 
        $sql .= "(Author LIKE '%$keyword%' OR Book_Title LIKE '%$keyword%')"; 
    } 
$sql .= "AND ";

if($grade == "k3")  

    { 
        $sql .= "Reading_Level BETWEEN '0' AND '3'"; 
    }
if($grade == "46")  

    { 
        $sql .= "Reading_Level BETWEEN '4' AND '6'"; 
    }
if($grade == "78")  

    { 
        $sql .= "Reading_Level BETWEEN '7' AND '8'"; 
    }
if($grade == "ag")  

    { 
        $sql .= "Reading_Level BETWEEN '0' AND '8'"; 
    }

$result = mysql_query($sql, $conn) or die("Search Failed.  Please try again later."); 

print "<table border='1' align='center' width='80%'>\n";
//get field names
print "<tr>\n";
while ($field = mysql_fetch_field($result))
	{
	print " <th>$field->name</th>\n";
	} //end while
print "</tr>\n\n";
//get row data as an associative array
while ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)){
	print "<tr>\n";
	//look at each field
	foreach ($row as $col=>$val){
		print " <td>$val</td>\n";
		} //end foreach
		print "</tr>\n\n";
		}//end while
print "</table>\n";

Thanks again for you help ~brett (bpat1434) , it is much appreciated ..

Jon

[bpat1434]

No problem.

The difference between GET and POST is just how it's sent to the next page. GET sends it via the URL, and POST sends it hidden. Normally, forms send info through the POST method. Since you're doing a search, it should be ok because there isn't any "sensitive" information being passed.

~Brett

[rathersurf]

Thanks to all who helped ..... My search feature is working perfect ..