Multi word search in PHP/MySQL - php

Question

I'm struggling to create a search that searches for multiple words. My first attempt yielded no results whatsoever and is as follows:
require_once('database_conn.php');
if($_POST){
$explodedSearch = explode (" ", $_POST['quickSearch']);
foreach($explodedSearch as $search){
$query = "SELECT *
FROM jobseeker
WHERE forename like '%$search%' or surname like '%$search%'
ORDER BY userID
LIMIT 5";
$result = mysql_query($query);
}
while($userData=mysql_fetch_array($result)){
$forename=$userData['forename'];
$surname=$userData['surname'];
$profPic=$userData['profilePicture'];
$location=$userData['location'];
echo "<div class=\"result\">
<img class=\"quickImage\" src=\"" . $profPic. "\" width=\"45\" height=\"45\"/>
<p class=\"quickName\">" . $forename . " " . $surname . "</p>
<p class=\"quickLocation\"> " . $location . "</p>
</div>";
}
}
I also tried the following, which yielded results, but as you can imagine, I was getting duplicate results for every word I entered:
if($_POST){
$explodedSearch = explode (" ", $_POST['quickSearch']);
foreach($explodedSearch as $search){
$query = "SELECT *
FROM jobseeker
WHERE forename like '%$search%' or surname like '%$search%'
ORDER BY userID
LIMIT 5";
$result .= mysql_query($query);
while($userData=mysql_fetch_array($result)){
$forename=$userData['forename'];
$surname=$userData['surname'];
$profPic=$userData['profilePicture'];
$location=$userData['location'];
echo "<div class=\"result\">
<img class=\"quickImage\" src=\"" . $profPic. "\" width=\"45\" height=\"45\"/>
<p class=\"quickName\">" . $forename . " " . $surname . "</p>
<p class=\"quickLocation\"> " . $location . "</p>
</div>";
}
}
}
I'm pretty much at a loss as to how to proceed with this, any help would be greatly appreciated.
EDIT:
if($_POST){
$quickSearch = $_POST['quickSearch'];
$explodedSearch = explode (" ", trim($quickSearch));
$queryArray = array();
foreach($explodedSearch as $search){
$term = mysql_real_escape_string($search);
$queryArray[] = "forename like '%" . $term . "%' surname like '%" . $term . "%'";
}
$implodedSearch = implode(' or ', $queryArray);
$query="SELECT *
FROM jobseeker
WHERE ($implodedSearch)
ORDER BY userID
LIMIT 5";
$result = mysql_query($query);
while($userData=mysql_fetch_array($result, MYSQL_ASSOC)){
$forename=$userData['forename'];
$surname=$userData['surname'];
$profPic=$userData['profilePicture'];
$location=$userData['location'];
echo "<div class=\"result\">
<img class=\"quickImage\" src=\"" . $profPic. "\" width=\"45\" height=\"45\"/>
<p class=\"quickName\">" . $forename . " " . $surname . "</p>
<p class=\"quickLocation\"> " . $location . "</p>
</div>";
}
}

Answer 1

I've been working on the same subject (search with keywords) for a while and this how i did it :
$words = $_POST['keywords'];
if(empty($words)){
//redirect somewhere else!
}
$parts = explode(" ",trim($words));
$clauses=array();
foreach ($parts as $part){
//function_description in my case , replace it with whatever u want in ur table
$clauses[]="function_description LIKE '%" . mysql_real_escape_string($part) . "%'";
}
$clause=implode(' OR ' ,$clauses);
//select your condition and add "AND ($clauses)" .
$sql="SELECT *
FROM functions
WHERE
user_name='{$user_name}'
AND ($clause) ";
$results=mysql_query($sql,$connection);
if(!$results){
redirect("errors/error_db.html");
}
else if($results){
$rows = array();
<?php
while($rows = mysql_fetch_array($results, MYSQL_ASSOC))
{
// echo whatever u want !
}
?>
-- Now this is how it look when i tried to run it with FULLTEXT search :
But you should set the table type as "MyISAM"
<?php
$words = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['function_keywords']);
if(empty($words)){
redirect("welcome.php?error=search_empty");
}
//if the columns(results)>1/2(columns) => it will return nothing!(use "NATURAL LANGUAGE"="BOOLEAN")
$sql="SELECT * FROM functions
WHERE MATCH (function_description)
AGAINST ('{$words}' IN NATURAL LANGUAGE MODE)";
$results=mysql_query($sql,$connection);
if(!$results){
redirect("errors/error_db.html");
}
else if($results){
$rows = array();
while($rows = mysql_fetch_array($results, MYSQL_ASSOC))
{
// echo
}
}
?>

Answer 2

Perhaps what you are looking for is a MySQL full-text search.
For your example, you could do something like:
if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] == 'POST') {
$search = $_POST['quickSearch'];
// Todo: escape $search
$sql = "
SELECT
*,
MATCH (`forename`)
AGAINST ('{$search}' IN NATURAL LANGUAGE MODE) AS `score`
FROM `jobseeker`
WHERE
MATCH (`forename`)
AGAINST ('{$search}' IN NATURAL LANGUAGE MODE)";
// Todo: execute query and gather results
}
Note that you will need to add a FULLTEXT index to the column forename.

Answer 3

Take a look at MySQL fulltext searches, if you must use MySQL. Otherwise take a look at SOLR, which is a fulltext search engine. You can use MySQL and SOLR in combination to provide enterprise level search capabilities for your apps.

Answer 4

here's what i did
if (isset($_POST['search'])){
$words = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['searchfield']);
$arraySearch = explode(" ", trim($words));
$countSearch = count($arraySearch);
$a = 0;
$query = "SELECT * FROM parts WHERE ";
$quote = "'";
while ($a < $countSearch)
{
$query = $query."description LIKE $quote%$arraySearch[$a]%$quote ";
$a++;
if ($a < $countSearch)
{
$query = $query." AND ";
}
}
$result=mysql_query($query) or die(error);
//you could just leave it here, short and sweet but i added some extra code for if it doesnt turn up any results then it searches for either word rather than boths words//
$num = mysql_num_rows($result);
if ($num == 0){
$a = 0;
$query = "SELECT * FROM parts WHERE ";
while ($a < $countSearch)
{
$query = $query."description LIKE $quote%$arraySearch[$a]%$quote ";
$a++;
if ($a < $countSearch)
{
$query = $query." OR ";
$msg = "No exact match for: $words. Maybe this is what you're looking for though? If not please try again.";
}
}
}
$result=mysql_query($query) or die($query);
if (mysql_num_rows($result) == 0){
$msg = "No results, please try another search";
}
}