php multiple search textbox with one submit button - php

Question

i would like to know how can i make a multiple search criteria with 2 or more textboxes and only one submit button.
my script is:
$sql = "select * from wp_studenti ";
if (isset($_POST['search'])) {
$search_term = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['search_box']);
$sql .= " WHERE nume= '{$search_term}' ";
}
$query = mysql_query($sql) or die (mysql_error());
echo "<form name ='search_form' method='POST' action='search.php'>";
echo "<center><h3>Cauta:</h3> <input type='text' name='search_box' />";
echo "<input type='submit' name='search' value='Cauta' /></center>";
echo "</form>";
and my results page that shows after search page:
$sql = "select * from wp_studenti ";
if (isset($_POST['search'])) {
$search_term = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['search_box']);
$sql .= "WHERE nume= '{$search_term}'";
}
echo "<center>\n";
echo "<table border='1'>";
echo "<thead>";
echo "<tr><th>Id</th>";
echo "<th>Nume</th>";
echo "<th>Localitate</th>";
echo "<th>Judet</th>";
echo "<th>Sector Financiar</th>";
echo "<th>Link</th></tr>";
echo "</thead>";
$rst = mysql_query($sql);
while($a_row = mysql_fetch_assoc($rst)) {
echo "<tr>";
echo "<td>"; echo $a_row['id']; echo "</td>";
echo "<td>"; echo $a_row['nume']; echo "</td>";
echo "<td>"; echo $a_row['localitate']; echo "</td>";
echo "<td>"; echo $a_row['judet']; echo "</td>";
echo "<td>"; echo $a_row['sector_financiar']; echo "</td>";
echo "<td>"; echo "<a href='results.php?id={$a_row['id']}'>{$a_row['link']}</a>" ; echo "</td>";echo "</tr>";
echo "</table>";

Answer 1

$sql = "select * from wp_studenti ";
if (isset($_POST['search'])) {
$search_term_by_Cauta = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['search_box_1']);
$search_term_by_localitate = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['search_box_2']);
//If you want both search mandatory, use "AND" Operator otherwise use "OR". If you want approximate search use "LIKE" Operator in bellow SQL
$sql .= " WHERE nume= '{$search_term_by_Cauta }' OR localitate = '{$search_term_by_localitate }' ";
}
$query = mysql_query($sql) or die (mysql_error());
echo "<form name ='search_form' method='POST' action='search.php'>";
echo "<center><h3>Cauta:</h3> <input type='text' name='search_box_1' />";
echo "<h3>localitate:</h3> <input type='text' name='search_box_2' />";
echo "<input type='submit' name='search' value='Cauta' /></center>";
echo "</form>";

Answer 2

Well you need another search box:
echo "<center><h3>Cauta:</h3> <input type='text' name='search_box1' /><input type='text' name='search_box2' />";
And you need to use that value in your SQL:
if (isset($_POST['search'])) {
$search_term1 = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['search_box1']);
$search_term2 = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['search_box2']);
$sql .= " WHERE nume= '{$search_term1}' OR nume= '{$search_term2}'";
}
But you will have to do some thinking about how the search should work, is it supposed to match exactly one OR the other? If you want the text to contain instead of exactly match, you can use the syntax nume LIKE '%searchword%'

Answer 3

Use mysqli instead of mysql, which is depreciated. By PHP, something like this;
<form method='post'>
<input type='hidden' name='srch' val='1'>
Search Type1: <input type='text' name='s1'>
<br>
Search Type2: <input type='text' name='s2'>
<button>Submit</button>
</form>
<?php
if(isset($_POST['srch']))
{
if(!empty($_POST['s1']))$search = $_POST['s1'];
else if(!empty($_POST['s2']))$search = $_POST['s2'];
else die ('No criteria entered');
rest of your code...
}
?>
Also see functions like mysqli_real_escape for security reasons.