Advanced search with ajax, php and mysql - php

Question

I'm building an advanced search with ajax, php and mysql. below is the working code for the search form (html) the AJAX call and the php script that handles the request. However, the issue i'm facing is how to make a dynamic mysql query.
For example if the user searches "Hilton Hotel" in the search input, selects "accommodation" as the industry_types and "Hotel" as the sub_industry_type and selects "London" as the city. How can I write a query that will take all of these inputs into consideration?
Please note: in the search.php i have included the query for handling a keyword submitted in the user_search_input input.
Index.php (HTML):
<form class="user_search_form" action="" method="post">
<input type="text" class="user_search_input" placeholder="search" />
<select class="industry_types" name="industry_types" id="industry_types">
<option value="">Select an industry</option>
<option value="Accommodation">Accommodation</option>
<option value="Food_Drink">Food & Drink</option>
<option value="Entertainment">Entertainment</option>
<option value="Retail">Retail</option>
<option value="Telecommunications">Telecommunications</option>
<option value="Transportation">Transportation</option>
</select>
<select class="Accommodation sub_industry_type" name="Accommodation" id="sub_industry_type">
<option value="0">Select Accommodation subcategory</option>
<option value="Bed and Breakfasts">Bed and Breakfasts</option>
<option value="Hotel">Hotels</option>
<option value="Hotel">Hostels</option>
<option value="Resturant">Resorts</option>
<option value="Serviced apartments">Serviced apartments</option>
</select>
<select class="Food_Drink sub_industry_type" name="Food_Drink" id="sub_industry_type">
<option value="0">Select Cuisine subcategory</option>
<option value="Resturant">Restaurants</option>
<option value="Cafes">Cafes</option>
<option value="Bars and Pubs">Bars and Pubs</option>
<option value="Tourist Agency">Night clubs</option>
</select>
<select class="Entertainment sub_industry_type" name="Entertainment" id="sub_industry_type">
<option value="0">Select Entertainment subcategory</option>
<option value="Performing Arts">Performing Arts</option>
<option value="Cinemas">Cinemas</option>
<option value="Resorts and Casinos">Resorts and Casinos</option>
<option value="Amusement Parks and Attractions">Amusement Parks</option>
<option value="Museums">Museums</option>
<option value="Outdoor activities">Outdoor activities</option>
<option value="Media and Entertainment Other">Entertainment Other</option>
</select>
<select class="Retail sub_industry_type" name="Retail" id="sub_industry_type">
<option value="0">Select Retail subcategory</option>
<option value="Beer, Wine and Liquor Stores">Beer, Wine and Liquor Shops</option>
<option value="Clothing and Shoe Stores">Clothing and Shoe Shops</option>
<option value="Electronic Shops">Electronic Shops </option>
<option value="Jewelry, Luggage, and Accessories">Jewelry, Luggage, and Accessories</option>
<option value="Sporting Goods, Hobby, Books and Music Stores">Sporting Goods, Hobby, Books and Music Stores</option>
<option value="Internet Businesses">Internet Businesses</option>
<option value="Retail Others">Retail Others</option>
</select>
<select class="Telecommunications sub_industry_type" name="Telecommunications" id="sub_industry_type">
<option value="0">Select Telecommunications subcategory</option>
<option value="Telephone Service Providers and Carriers">Telephone Service Providers</option>
<option value="Telecommunications Other">Telecommunications Other</option>
</select>
<select class="Transportation sub_industry_type" name="Transportation" id="sub_industry_type">
<option value="0">Select Transportation subcategory</option>
<option value="Car Rental">Car Rentals</option>
<option value="Taxi, Buses and Transit Systems">Taxi Services</option>
<option value="Travel Agents">Travel Agents</option>
</select>
<select name="select_city" class="select_city">
<option value="">City</option>
<option value="">London</option>
<option value="">New York</option>
<option value="">Paris</option>
</select>
<input type="submit" value="search" class="search_btn" />
</form>
Index.php (AJAX):
$('.user_search_form').submit(function(e){
e.preventDefault();
var $search_input = $('.user_search_input').val();
var $industry_general = $('.industry_types').val();
var $industry_spesific = $('.sub_industry_type').val();
var $selected_city = $('.select_city').val();
var url = "search.php";
$.ajax({ //create an ajax request to load_page.php
type: "POST",
url: url,
data:{search_input: $search_input, industry_general: $industry_general, industry_spesific: $industry_spesific, selected_city: $selected_city},
dataType: "html", //expect html to be returned
success: function(date){
$('#search_results').html(date);
}
})
});
search.php (The issue):
<?php include 'includes/db_connect.php';
$search_input = $_POST['search_input'];
$industry_general = $_POST['industry_general'];
$industry_spesific = $_POST['industry_spesific'];
$selected_city = $_POST['selected_city'];
if(!empty($search_input)){
$sql = $dbh->prepare("SELECT * FROM table WHERE company_name LIKE :company_name OR company_keywords LIKE :company_keywords OR company_city LIKE :company_city OR company_email LIKE :company_email");
$sql->bindValue(':company_name', '%' . $search_input . '%', PDO::PARAM_STR);
$sql->bindValue(':company_keywords', '%' . $search_input . '%', PDO::PARAM_STR);
$sql->bindValue(':company_city', '%' . $search_input . '%', PDO::PARAM_STR);
$sql->bindValue(':company_email', '%' . $search_input . '%', PDO::PARAM_STR);
if($sql->execute()) {
$sql->setFetchMode(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
}
}
elseif(!empty($industry_general)){
// if industry_general is not empty
}
elseif(!empty($industry_spesific)){
// if industry_spesific is not empty
}
elseif(!empty($selected_city)){
// if selected_city is not empty
}?>

Answer 1

How about this snippet?
// columns that should contain either of the search_input words
$searchTermCols = [
'company_name',
'company_keywords',
'company_city',
'company_email'
];
$data = $_POST; // copy $_POST array to a variable so you can safely alter keys/values
$searchInput = $data['search_input']; // tmp store search_input so you can unset it for the rest of the code
unset($data['search_input']); // unset unnecessary keys (if you have any). like in your case you want to do different stuff with that key=>value
//unset($data['some_other_unwanted_input_doing_other_stuff']); // or another one
$searchInputParts = preg_split('/\s+/', $searchInput); // explode by whitespace
$searchInput = implode('|',$searchInputParts); // for REGEXP search in mysql to search each word occurrence in a column
foreach($data as $key=>$val) { // loop through copied array
$sqlParts1[] = $key.' LIKE :'.$key;
}
foreach($searchTermCols as $key) { // loop through columns that should contain either of the words
$sqlParts2[] = $key.' REGEXP :'.$key;
}
$andParts = implode(' AND ',$sqlParts1); // these options must exists in the columns
$orParts = implode(' OR ',$sqlParts2); // these options must exists in the columns
$qryStr = "SELECT * FROM table WHERE ";
$qryStr .= "($andParts) AND ($orParts)"; // concatenate both similar but different queries and append to query
$sql = $dbh->prepare($qryStr);
foreach($data as $key=>$val) {
$sql->bindValue(':'.$key, '%' . trim($val) . '%', PDO::PARAM_STR);
}
foreach($searchTermCols as $key) {
$sql->bindValue(':'.$key, $searchInput, PDO::PARAM_STR);
}
if($sql->execute()) {
$sql->setFetchMode(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
}
UPDATE
You can copy $_POST to another variable and unset keys you dont want in the query. See first two added lines and the $data variable set to loop through.
UPDATE 2 Important..
Your form input's name attributes need to match your database table's columns. So for example:
<input type="text" name="company_name" id="company_name">
If your db table's column name is "company_name".
UPDATE 3
For fun i added the requirements explained in your comment. I do not have your table structure so i did not test it...