MySql Search Query for Two Combined Fields - php

Question

I am working on a site that allows users to list boats and yachts for sale. There is a mysql database that has a table "yachts" and among other fields ther are "make" and "model".
When people come to the site to look for boats for sale there is a search form, one of the options is to enter the make and/or model into a text field. The relevant where clause on the results page is the following
WHERE ( make LIKE '%$yacht_make%' OR model LIKE '%$yacht_make%')
This is working if someone enters either the make or model but not if they enter both.
For example, if someone enters "Jeanneau", the make, it finds the boat with that make, or if they enter "Sun Odyssey", the model, it finds the boat of that model, but if they enter "Jeanneau Sun Odyssey" it comes up empty.
Is there is a way to write a query where all three ways of entering the above search criteria would find the boat?
Here is the site http://yachtsoffered.com/
Thanks,
Rob Fenwick
Edit:
The query is built with a php script here is the script
if(!empty($yacht_id)) {
$where = " WHERE yacht_id = $yacht_id ";
} else {
$where = " WHERE ( make LIKE '%$yacht_make%' OR model LIKE '%$yacht_make%') ";
if(!empty($year_from) && !empty($year_to)){
$where .= "AND ( year BETWEEN $year_from AND $year_to ) ";
}
if(!empty($length_from) && !empty($length_to)){
$where .= "AND ( length_ft BETWEEN $length_from AND $length_to ) ";
}
if(!empty($price_from) && !empty($price_to)){
$where .= "AND ( price BETWEEN $price_from AND $price_to ) ";
}
if ($sail_power != 2){
$where .= "AND ( sail_power = $sail_power ) ";
}
if (count($material_arr) > 0){
$material = 'AND (';
foreach ($material_arr as $value) {
$material .= ' material LIKE \'%' . $value . '%\' OR';
}
$material = substr_replace ( $material , ') ' , -2 );
$where .= $material;
}
if (count($engine_arr) > 0){
$engine = 'AND (';
foreach ($engine_arr as $value) {
$engine .= ' engine LIKE \'%' . $value . '%\' OR';
}
$engine = substr_replace ( $engine , ') ' , -2 );
$where .= $engine;
}
if (count($type_arr) > 0){
$type = 'AND (';
foreach ($type_arr as $value) {
$type .= ' type LIKE \'' . $value . '\' OR';
}
$type = substr_replace ( $type , ') ' , -2 );
$where .= $type;
}
if (count($region_arr) > 0){
$region = 'AND (';
foreach ($region_arr as $value) {
$region .= ' region LIKE \'' . $value . '\' OR';
}
$region = substr_replace ( $region , ') ' , -2 );
$where .= $region;
}
$where .= 'AND ( active = 1 ) ORDER BY yacht_id DESC';
}
$sql = "SELECT * FROM $tbl_name $where LIMIT $start, $limit";
$result = mysql_query($sql);

Answer 1

There are many ways to do it, the easiest one in my opinion is:
$search = preg_replace('/\s+/','|', $yacht_make);
$sql = "select * from yacht where concat_ws(' ',make,model) rlike '$search'";
This replaces all whitespace with |, that is used as OR in regexp-powered-like query on concatenation of all searchable fields. The speed of it may be questionable in heavy trafic sites but is quite compact and easy to add more fields.

Answer 2

Your problem is that in your query you are searching for the exact substring "Jeanneau Sun Odyssey", which is neither a make nor a model.
The easiest solution is to use to separate input boxes for make and model. But if you really need to use a single input box, your best bet would be to split on spaces and add clauses for each separate word, so your query will end up looking something like
WHERE make like '%sun%' OR model like '%sun%'
OR make like '%odyssey%' OR model like '%odyssey%'
OR make like '%Jeanneau%' OR model like '%Jeanneau%'

Answer 3

Thanks everyone I ended up using dev-null-dweller's solution above
I revised my code as following,
to get the value and escape here is the code,
if (isset($_GET['yacht_make'])) {
$yacht_make = cleanString($_GET['yacht_make']);
$yacht_make = preg_replace('/\s+/','|', $yacht_make);
} else {
$yacht_make = NULL;
}
And I revised the first few lines of the php query building code I posted above to read,
if(!empty($yacht_id)) {
$where = " WHERE yacht_id = $yacht_id ";
} else {
$where = " WHERE ( yacht_id LIKE '%' )";
if(!empty($yacht_make)){
$where .= "AND ( CONCAT_WS(' ',make,model) RLIKE '$yacht_make') ";
}
It is working nicely, although it brings up more results than I would like for "Jeanneau Sun Odyssey" as it brings up "Bayliner Sunbridge", I assume because it is matching "Sun".
But it is a big improvement from what I had.
Thanks All
Rob Fenwick

Answer 4

You could also use:
WHERE make LIKE '%$yacht_make%'
OR model LIKE '%$yacht_make%'
OR '$yacht_make' LIKE CONCAT('%', make, '%', model, '%')
OR '$yacht_make' LIKE CONCAT('%', model, '%', make, '%')
It will not be very efficient and still not catch all possibilities, e.g. if the user provide the make and a part of the model name, like 'Jeanneau Odyssey' or in wrong order: Sun Jeanneau Odyssey.

Answer 5

After checking out your site it appears you are only taking input from one text field and searching for that string in each field.
So, you can either use full text searches (linkie) or you could split your string by spaces and generate a WHERE cause on the fly. Here is a rough example:
$searchterms = explode (' ', $input);
$sql .= "... WHERE"; /* obviously need the rest of your query */
foreach ($searchterms as $term) {
if ((substr ($string, -5) != 'WHERE') &&
(substr ($string, -3) == ' ||') { $sql .= " ||"; }
$sql .= " make LIKE '%$term%' || model LIKE '%$term%'";
}