Filtering search engine data - php

Question

I have a problem with filtering information using a form,
Here is my code
$cooperation = Cooperation::with('user')->get();
$search_results = [];
$search = Input::get('q');
$category = Input::get('c');
$land = Input::get('l');
if(!empty($search || $category || $land)){
$search_results = $cooperation;
if (!empty($search)){
$search_results = $search_results->where('title', 'like', '%'. $search .'%');
}
if (!empty($category)){
$search_results = $search_results->where('category', $category);
}
if (!empty($land)){
$search_results = $search_results->where('land', $land);
}
$exist_s = true;
$not_s = false;
return view('cooperation.index', compact('cooperation', 'search_results', 'exist_s', 'not_s'));
}
else{
$not_s = true;
$exist_s = false;
return view('cooperation.index', compact('cooperation', 'search_results', 'exist_s', 'not_s'));
}
After retrieving data from the form I am trying to filter through the array in sequence by each variable but nothing happens, the only thing that works is filtering in $ category but I do not know why the rest does not work.
I'm looking for a solution as to how to filter data efficiently, I could do it if () after if () but with more variables it would be a very inefficient solution.
If anyone has any idea in advance thank you.

Answer 1

If you want to have an efficient search according to your requirements you can have following input variables:
$columns, $searchColumns, $search_operator, $search_input
$columns can be the columns through which you can order, searchColumns can be the columns through which you want to have search and search_operator as in like, <, <=, in, >, >= etc, you can even improvise with the direction as asc or dsc in values, so you can have something like this:
return $query
->orderBy($request->column, $request->direction)
->where(function($query) use ($request, $searchColumns) {
if($request->has('search_input')) {
for($x = 0, $l = count($searchColumns); $x < $l; $x++) {
if($request->search_operator == 'in') {
$query->whereIn($searchColumns[$x], explode(',', $request->search_input));
} else if($request->search_operator == 'like') {
$query->orWhere($searchColumns[$x], 'LIKE', '%'.$request->search_input.'%');
}
else {
$query->orWhere($searchColumns[$x], $this->operators[$request->search_operator], $request->search_input);
}
}
}
})
->paginate(100);

Answer 2

I don't know why your request is not working. However, if you are looking for a generic way of filtering your results I believe a simple foreach loop with an array of your filters variables would do the trick :
$filters = []; //your variables such as category and land go in there
foreach ($filters as $column => $value){
$search_results = $search_results->where($column, $value);
}