search query help

[puja]

hi
now ive been trying to get this search query for ages now and i cant seem to spot wot is wrong with it
have i just over looked something really simple or am i just doing it all wrong?
the query is to select options from a drop down box which is on a search page and then those selections are meant to be shown on this search results page.
the thing is that i dont have the drop down boxes on the search results page, is it ok to link it from the previous page? ive linked it using the form post method at the moment
and shud i put the query on the search page or the search results page?

the query now looks like:

self = $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'];

$type = $_POST["select_type"];
$sleeps = $_POST["select_sleeps"];
$board = $_POST["select_board"];
$description = $_POST["description"];
$pets_allowed = $_POST["select_pets_allowed"];


$query = "SELECT type, sleeps, board, description, pets_allowed FROM accommodation WHERE type = '$type' AND sleeps = '$sleeps' AND board = '$board' AND description= '$description' AND pets_allowed = '$pets_allowed'";

$result = mysql_query ($query) or die(mysql_error());

$num = mysql_num_rows($result);

if ($num > 0){
             echo "<p>There is currently $num accommodation. </p>\n";

          echo '<table align = "center" border = "1" cellspacing = "0" cellpadding = "5">
          <tr>
          <td align="left"><b>Type</b></td>
          <td align="left"><b>Sleeps</b></td>
          <td align="left"><b>Board</b></td>
          <td align="left"><b>Description</b></td>
          <td align="left"><b>Pets Allowed</b></td>
          </tr>
          ';

          while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($result, MYSQL_ASSOC)){
            echo '
          <tr>
          <td align="left">'. $row['type']. '</td>
          <td align="left">'. $row['sleeps']. '</td>
          <td align="left">'. $row['board']. '</td>
          <td align="left">'. $row['description']. '</td>
          <td align="left">'. $row['pets_allowed']. '</td>
          </tr>
          ';
          }
          echo '</table>';

          mysql_free_result($result);


          } else {

          	echo '<p class = "error">There are currently no types of accommodation for the choices entered.</p>';
          }
          mysql_close();

          $statment =mysql_query ("SELECT * FROM accommodation WHERE type = '$type' AND sleeps = '$sleeps' AND board = '$board' AND pets_allowed = '$pets_allowed'");
          print $statment;
          $query = mysql_query($statment) or die(mysql_error());

?>

at the moment it just tells me that query is empty

hope some1 can help

[etully]

Can you telnet into the box and run MySQL on the command line? If not, do you have something like PHPMyAdmin where you can connect to MySQL and pass in SQL statements?

If yes, then find where you set up your query: $query =
And then follow that with print "$query";

This way, you can see exactly what the query looks like. Then check your database to make sure that the values in your fields matches the values in your queries. For example, if you have pets_allowed="Y" in your database but your query is looking for records where pets_allowed="1" then they aren't going to match.

You can use the MySQL command line or PHPMyAdmin to test the queries that you build and see what results you get from a query that is built in your PHP.

[puja]

hi
thanks but i fixed it a while ago.
it was that it wasnt recognising the pets_allowed field beacuse i had it as 'Y' but it was stored as 'Yes' in the database.
thanks for the advice about phpMyAdmin tho, it will be useful for me next time im stuck