Question

I am having trouble searching multiple columns in a MySQL database table with user input from a form.

Table in database is called vehicles and has 4 fields/columns: year, make, model, and option

The user inputs their search criteria from a form which I put into the $input variable.

Below is my code which doesn’t work. It returns a boolean error:

(Warning: mysql_num_rows() expects parameter 1 to be resource, boolean given)

$query = ("SELECT * FROM vehicles WHERE year LIKE '%$input%' OR make LIKE '%$input%' OR model LIKE '%$input%' OR option LIKE '%$input%'");

$result = mysql_query($query);

Yet, when I remove the final OR from the query, it works fine, but only searches the year, make, and model fields:

$query = ("SELECT * FROM vehicles WHERE year LIKE '%$input%' OR make LIKE '%$input%' OR model LIKE '%$input%'");

$result = mysql_query($query);

How do I get the query to search all 4 fields/columns? What am I missing?

Is there an easier way to have an entire table (all columns in the table) be searched for a users’s input?

Really appreciate any help you can give me.

Answer 1

“option” is a reserved word in mysql, see here. So, your query actually fails and returns a boolean false instead of a resource. Rename the column or use “ around it like this

$query = ("SELECT * FROM vehicles WHERE year LIKE '%$input%' OR make LIKE '%$input%' OR model LIKE '%$input%' OR `option` LIKE '%$input%'");

Also be sure to use proper escaping to be safe against SQL Injection.