MySQL & PHP : Multiple Keyword Search - php

Question

I have a string containing comma separated keywords. For Example:
$keywords = 'keyword1, keyword2, keyword3';
My Table schema, named tbl_address is like this ( simplified ) :
id INT(11) PRIMARY KEY, AUTO INCREMENT
address VARCHAR(250) NOT NULL
Assume I have to use MySQLi in PHP ( not PDO ).
Here is my current approach:
$result = array();
$keyword_tokens = explode(',', $keywords);
foreach($keyword_tokens as $keyword) {
$keyword = mysqli_real_escape_string(trim($keyword));
$sql = "SELECT * FROM tbl_address WHERE address LIKE'%$keyword%'";
// query and collect the result to $result
// before inserting to $result, check if the id exists in $result.
// if yes, skip.
}
return $result;
This approach works, but inefficient in performance. If there are a lot of keywords, it will make a lot queries.
My question is, is there a better way to achieve the same goal ? i.e. what is the simplest way to return all records with the address containing the ANY of the keywords ?

Answer 1

A simple REGEXP might be what you're after. You'd have to check how efficient it is for yourself.
SELECT * FROM tbl_address WHERE field REGEXP 'keyword1|keyword2|keyword3';

Answer 2

SELECT * FROM user;
+---------+----------+
| user_id | username |
+---------+----------+
| 101 | Adam |
| 102 | Ben |
| 103 | Charlie |
| 104 | Dave |
+---------+----------+
SELECT *
FROM user
WHERE FIND_IN_SET(username,'adam,ben,dave') > 0;
+---------+----------+
| user_id | username |
+---------+----------+
| 101 | Adam |
| 102 | Ben |
| 104 | Dave |
+---------+----------+

Answer 3

You only need an 'OR', nothing else...
<?php
$result = array();
$keyword_tokens = explode(',', $keywords);
$keyword_tokens = array_map('mysqli_real_escape_string', $keyword_tokens);
$sql = "SELECT * FROM tbl_address WHERE address LIKE'%";
$sql .= implode("%' or address LIKE '%", $keyword_tokens) . "'";
// query and collect the result to $result
// before inserting to $result, check if the id exists in $result.
// if yes, skip.
return $result;
edit: Just to be sure you also trim the keywords
<?php
$result = array();
$keyword_tokens = explode(',', $keywords);
$keyword_tokens = array_map(
function($keyword) {
return mysqli_real_escape_string(trim($keyword));
},
$keyword_tokens
);
$sql = "SELECT * FROM tbl_address WHERE address LIKE'%";
$sql .= implode("%' OR address LIKE '%", $keyword_tokens) . "'";
// query and collect the result to $result
// before inserting to $result, check if the id exists in $result.
// if yes, skip.
return $result;
Also, you should also pass the db resource link to the mysqli_real_escape_string() function...

Answer 4

The best way is to use fulltext search.
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/fulltext-search.html
if you don't want to use fulltext you can use OR in your WHERE condition
SELECT * FROM tbl_address WHERE address LIKE '%$keyword%' OR adress LIKE '%$keyword2%'

Answer 5

Try WHERE IN clause:
$keyword = (array)explode(',', $keywords);
for($i=0;$i=count($keyword);$i++){
$keyword[$i]=mysqli_real_escape_string(trim($keyword[$i]),'\'" ');
}
//This is what I suggest.
$query='SELECT * FROM tbl_address WHERE address IN ("'.implode('","',$keyword).'")';
Successfully tested on MySQL 5.1.

Answer 6

Make single query
$keywordary = explode(',', $keywords);
foreach($keywordary as $keyword) {
$keys = trim($keyword);
$other .=" or address like '%$keys%'";
}
$sql = "SELECT * FROM tbl_address WHERE address LIKE'%$keyword%' $other";
execute query;
return $result;

Answer 7

Best way is just create search string WHERE clause and append it to query and run it once.
$result = array();
$keyword_tokens = explode(',', $keywords);
$where = '';$i=0
foreach($keyword_tokens as $keyword) {
$where.= " address LIKE'%".mysqli_real_escape_string(trim($keyword))."%' OR ";
}
// trim last OR with substr_replace
substr_replace($where, "OR", -1, 1);
$sql = "SELECT * FROM tbl_address WHERE $where";
return $result;

Answer 8

Hi create a query with union and execute in the end of the loop
$result = array();
$keyword_tokens = explode(',', $keywords);
$sql = '';
foreach($keyword_tokens as $keyword) {
$keyword = mysqli_real_escape_string(trim($keyword));
if (!empty($sql)) $sql .= " UNION ";
$sql .= "SELECT * FROM tbl_address WHERE address LIKE'%$keyword%'";
// query and collect the result to $result
// before inserting to $result, check if the id exists in $result.
// if yes, skip.
}
Execute the query here.