Please Help with Combo Search Box

[binto]

I will appreciate some assistace with a combo search box

Now I have two separate boxes to search for companies(search_companies.php) and products (search_products.php)
They work fine as long as I have two boxes.

I want to combine these into one box so I have

Enter Keyword >Select where to search >Go

I have tried using a list box like:
<input type=txt value=keyword>
Select ....
<option name=company value=search_companies.php>search for a company</option>
<option name=product value=search_products.php>search for a product</option>
<...value=submit>

Problem
1. Do I need to create a separate search file for this to work.
2. I have tried javascript without luck.

Could someone please point to the right direction.
Thank you

[_RL_Ian]

binto wrote:

I will appreciate some assistace with a combo search box

Now I have two separate boxes to search for companies(search_companies.php) and products (search_products.php)
They work fine as long as I have two boxes.

I want to combine these into one box so I have

Enter Keyword >Select where to search >Go

I have tried using a list box like:
<input type=txt value=keyword>
Select ....
<option name=company value=search_companies.php>search for a company</option>
<option name=product value=search_products.php>search for a product</option>
<...value=submit>

Problem
1. Do I need to create a separate search file for this to work.
2. I have tried javascript without luck.

Could someone please point to the right direction.
Thank you

Why not make one file (i.e. search.php) and then pass keyword and search_type over to search.php. Inside there, you can say:

<?php
//search.php

switch ($_REQUEST['search_type'])
{
	case "company":
	{
		$sql = "SELECT * FROM companies WHERE name LIKE '%" . $_REQUEST['keyword'] . "%'";
		break;
	}

case "product":
{
	$sql = "SELECT * FROM products WHERE name LIKE '%" . $_REQUEST['keyword'] . "%'";
	break;
}
}
?>

Just an example, there are quite a few ways to go about it. One thing for sure though, the name attribute goes in the <select> tag, not the <option> tag. Hope that helps.

[binto]

Thank you very much.
This gave a great lead. I have been able to get the search result.

I actually hate to ask too many question but I have one issue with the search result.

Problem:
If there is no keyword, result displays all entries in the database.

Desired Solution:
I tried as below without luck

if ($keyword=="")
{
echo "Please enter Keyword";}
else
{
sql=........................

If there is no keyword it prints OK, but if there is a keyword it also prints.

Thank you for your time

[qolbu]

// like ...
$keyword = $_POST['keyword'];
if (empty($keyword)) {
    echo ('please enter the keyword');
} else {
    executed search
}

hope that help.

[_RL_Ian]

binto wrote:

Thank you very much.
This gave a great lead. I have been able to get the search result.

I actually hate to ask too many question but I have one issue with the search result.

Problem:
If there is no keyword, result displays all entries in the database.

Desired Solution:
I tried as below without luck

if ($keyword=="")
{
echo "Please enter Keyword";}
else
{
sql=........................

If there is no keyword it prints OK, but if there is a keyword it also prints.

Thank you for your time

I updated the script for you:

<?php
//search.php

if (!empty($_REQUEST['keyword']) AND !(!empty($_REQUEST['search_type']))
{
	switch ($_REQUEST['search_type'])
	{
	    case "company":
	    {
	        $sql = "SELECT * FROM companies WHERE name LIKE '%" . htmlspecialchars($_REQUEST['keyword']) . "%'";
	        break;
	    }

    case "product":
    {
        $sql = "SELECT * FROM products WHERE name LIKE '%" . htmlspecialchars($_REQUEST['keyword']) . "%'";
        break;
    }
}
}
else
{
	echo("You did not enter a keyword and/or a search type.  Please try again");
}
?> 

[binto]

I am very grateful to (RL)Ian and Golbu for your assitance.
I have been able to get this working.

Please if you don't mind one last question.

I will like to select where to search (produt or company) and select a region as well.

My Question:
If I create another case "region". This means I will have the product, company, regions all in one box.

Is it possible to create another switch ($_REQUEST['region']) with only one case and the query?
In this case, I will be having 2 select tags in the same form.
1. select name=search_type
2. select name=region

Will this work?
Thank you