[RESOLVED] Search Problems...

[middleman666]

hey people,

this script is driving me crazy.
I have this search script Im trying to modify to work with a site. the script is included on a page depending if the address reads ?menu=searchreview .
I put a big IF function round the whole script to say if the form is searched then do the script, if not, then echo a message.

I dont know where Ive gone wrong, but I keep getting random results, the script I have will work one minute and then not the next and if the form is submitted with nothing in it, it still comes back with a result.

heres my script:

<form name="form" action="<? $PHP_SELF; ?>" method="post">
  <INPUT TYPE="hidden" NAME="menu" VALUE="searchreview">
  <input type="text" name="q" />
  <input type="submit" name="action" id="action" value="Search"> 
</form>

<?php
//Database Table
$dbtable = myTable
//Database Field2
$dbfield1 = title;
$dbfield2 = reviewer;
//Set Limit numbers for result read out
$result1LIMIT = 40;
$result2LIMIT = 100;
// rows to return
$limit = 10;

//If form is submitted
if ($action=="Search") {//-------------------------------------------------------------------------

// Get the search variable from URL
$var = $_POST['q'];
$trimmed = trim($var); //trim whitespace from the stored variable

// check for an empty string and display a message.
if ($trimmed == "") {
	echo "<p>Please enter a search...</p>";
}
else { echo '1'; }
	// check for a search parameter
	if (!isset($var)) {
  		echo "<p>We dont seem to have a search parameter!</p>";
		exit;
  	}
else { echo '2'; }
	//connect to database
	mysql_connect("localhost","user","pass");
	mysql_select_db("dbname") or die("Unable to select database");

// Build SQL Query  
$query = "select * from $dbtable where $dbfield1 like \"%$trimmed%\" order by $dbfield1";

$numresults=mysql_query($query);
$numrows=mysql_num_rows($numresults);

// If we have no results, offer a google search as an alternative
if ($numrows == 0) {
	echo "<p>Sorry, your search: &quot;<b>" . $trimmed . "</b>&quot; returned zero results</p>";
	// google
	// echo "<p><a href=\"http://www.google.com/search?q=" 
	//  . $trimmed . "\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Look up 
	//  " . $trimmed . " on Google\">Click here</a> to try the 
	//  search on google</p>";
}
else { echo '3'; }
	// next determine if s has been passed to script, if not use 0
  	if (empty($s)) {
  		$s=0;
  	}
else { echo '4'; }
	// get results
 	$query .= " limit $s,$limit";
  	$result = mysql_query($query) or die("Couldn't execute query");

// if we have result/s begin to show results set
if ($numrows >= 1) {
	echo "<p>You searched for: &quot;<b>" . $var . "</b>&quot;</p>";
	echo "<b>Results:</b><br>";
	$count = 1 + $s ;
}
else { echo '5'; }
	// now display the results returned
  	while ($row= mysql_fetch_array($result)) {

//Set result character limits
$result1 = substr($row["$dbfield1"],0,$result1LIMIT);
$result2 = substr($row["$dbfield2"],0,$result2LIMIT);

echo "\n<table celpadding=3 cellspacing=0 border=0 width=100%>\n";
echo "<tr bgcolor=#FFFFFF valign=top>\n";
echo "<td width=5% class=searchitemdivide><span class=searchitem>$count.</span><br></td>\n";
echo "<td width=95% class=searchitemdivide><span class=searchtitleitem>".$result1."</span><br>\n";
echo "<span class=searchitem>".$result2."</span><br></td>\n";
echo "</tr>\n";
echo "</table>\n";

$count++ ;
}

$currPage = (($s/$limit) + 1);

//break before paging
echo "<br />";

//do the links to other results
if ($s>=1) { // bypass PREV link if s is 0
	$prevs=($s-$limit); 
 	if ($numrows >= 1) {
   		print "&nbsp;<a href=\"$PHP_SELF?menu=searchreview&s=$prevs&q=$var\">&lt;&lt;Prev ".$limit."</a>&nbsp&nbsp;";
 	}
}

//calculate number of pages needing links
$pages=intval($numrows/$limit);

//$pages now contains int of pages needed unless there is a remainder from division

if ($numrows%$limit) {
	// has remainder so add one page
	$pages++;
}

// check to see if last page
if (!((($s+$limit)/$limit)==$pages) && $pages!=1) {

	// not last page so give NEXT link
	$news=$s+$limit;
 	if ($numrows >= 1) {
   		echo "&nbsp;<a href=\"$PHP_SELF?menu=searchreview&s=$news&q=$var\">Next ".$limit." &gt;&gt;</a>";
 	}
}

$a = $s + ($limit) ;
if ($a > $numrows) { $a = $numrows ; }
$b = $s + 1 ;
if ($numrows >= 1) {
   	echo "<p>Showing results $b to $a of $numrows</p>";
}

}
else {
	echo 'Please enter a search.';
}
?>

can anyone see anything that may be causing my problems?

many thanks.

[rincewind456]

//Database Table 				
$dbtable = myTable

needs a ; at the end of line and is this a defined constant if not it needs quoting.

//Database Field2 
$dbfield1 = title; 		
$dbfield2 = reviewer; 

Are these defined constants if not they needs quoting.

if ($action=="Search") {

Where does $action come from if $_POST['action'] then the value is irrelevant and best tested for with isset like

if(isset($_POST['action'])){

    if ($trimmed == "") { 
          echo "<p>Please enter a search...</p>"; 
    } 
else { echo '1'; } 
    // check for a search parameter 
    

[code=php]
if (!isset($var)) { 
      echo "<p>We dont seem to have a search parameter!</p>"; 
    exit; 
  } 

else { echo '2';} [/code]

Both do the same thing!

[middleman666]

thanks for the reply, iv now added ; and quotes and defined action as:

$action = $_POST['action'];

action is the name of the search button.
I also got rid of the // check for a search parameter.

But i still seem to be having trouble getting it to work. It will work sometimes and then not work.

do you know of any reason for random results like that?

[middleman666]

i just tried taking out:

//If form is submitted
if ($action=="Search") {//-------------------------------------------------------------------------

and the rest of it at the bottom:
}
else{
echo 'message...';
};

and now it seems to be working fine.