SQL Searching Query using LIKE - php

Question

I have implemented searching using Query having LIKE clause with % wild cards on both side.
I have column having names of countries. If I search with P or PAK it shows result But If I search it with 'I live in Pakistan' it doesn't compare.
The thing I understand is it matches with the sub string.
Is it possible to make its vice versa like I pass the string 'I live in Pakistan' and it matches with characters in fields and gets the result of Pakistan.
Instant help would be appreciated.

Answer 1

you could use the like() function from codeigniter framework.
$this->db->like();
This function enables you to generate LIKE clauses, useful for doing searches.
Note: All values passed to this function are escaped automatically.
Simple key/value method:
$this->db->like('title', 'match');
// Produces: WHERE title LIKE '%match%'
If you use multiple function calls they will be chained together with AND between them:
$this->db->like('title', 'match');
$this->db->like('body', 'match');
// WHERE title LIKE '%match%' AND body LIKE '%match%
If you want to control where the wildcard (%) is placed, you can use an optional third argument. Your options are 'before', 'after' and 'both' (which is the default).
$this->db->like('title', 'match', 'before');
// Produces: WHERE title LIKE '%match'
$this->db->like('title', 'match', 'after');
// Produces: WHERE title LIKE 'match%'
$this->db->like('title', 'match', 'both');
// Produces: WHERE title LIKE '%match%'
If you do not want to use the wildcard (%) you can pass to the optional third argument the option 'none'.
$this->db->like('title', 'match', 'none');
// Produces: WHERE title LIKE 'match'
See This
I think what you Need is to search and compare for every word in the provided text, i think this will be helpfull.
$temp = array();
$str = array();
$str = explode(' ', $string);
foreach ( $str as $word) {
if (strlen($word) > 2) {
$this->db->or_like('country_name', $word, 'both');
} else {
continue;
}
}
$countries = $this->db->get('countries');
i think in $countries you will have all the needed result.

Answer 2

You could replace the whitespaces with commas, and then use find_in_set. Assuming your string is $str, consider this query:
SELECT *
FROM countries c
WHERE c.name LIKE '%$str%' OR
FIND_IN_SET(c.name, REPLACE($str, ' ', ',')) > 0

Answer 3

Try this
public function searchCountry($value)
{
$value = $value;
$query = $this->db->query("SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE country LIKE '%$value%' ");
$result = $query->result_array();
return $result;
}

Answer 4

This could work (disclaimer: not tested):
public function searchCountry($value)
{
$sql = "SELECT DISTINCT FROM `countries`";
$value = explode(' ', $value);// use all words from query
$first_match = FALSE;
foreach ($value as $k => $v)
{
if (strlen($v) >= 3)// exclude 1 and 2 letter words if want
{
if ( ! $first_match)
{
$sql .= " WHERE `name` LIKE %$v%";
}
else
{
$sql .= " OR `name` LIKE %$v%";
}
}
}
$sql .= " LIMIT 50";
$query = $this->db->query($sql);
$result = $query->result_array();
return $result;
}
but you probably should use #Mureinik solution.

Answer 5

You can use a regular expression trick for this purpose:
where country regexp replace($str, ' ', '|')
This constructs the expression:
where country regexp 'I|live|in|Pakistan'
which the evaluates to true because of the rules for regular expressions.