Question

I currently have a simple search engine which searches a column in my database based on input from a user:

$search = $_GET['search'];
$terms = explode(" ", $search);

        $sql = "SELECT * FROM people WHERE lname LIKE :search";
    $q   = $conn->prepare($sql) or die("failed!");
    $q->bindValue(':search',"%".$search."%",PDO::PARAM_STR);
    $q->execute();

 if ($q){

 //
 do something

 }

Currently it is searching for terms as a whole, for example “red desk” returns a result BUT “desk red” does not return anything

Any ideas? Any help much appreciated!

EDIT:

I have since changed it to this…

   $search = $_GET['search'];
   $terms = explode(" ", $search);

        $sql = "SELECT * FROM people WHERE MATCH (lname,fname) AGAINST  (:search IN BOOLEAN MODE)";
    $q   = $conn->prepare($sql) or die("failed!");
    $q->bindValue(':search',"%".$search."%",PDO::PARAM_STR);
    $q->execute(); 

it seems to be working okay for now, if anyone could suggest a better solution i would be very thankful!

Answer 1

This might not be the best way but I think something like this might do the job. I would myself love to know if there’s a smarter way to do this!

$search = $_GET['search'];
$terms = explode(" ", $search);

$sql = "SELECT * FROM people"
if(count($terms) > 0) {
  $sql .= " WHERE (lname LIKE '%:term_0%' OR fname LIKE '%:term_0%')";
  for($i = 1; $i < count($terms); $i++)
    $sql .= " AND (lname LIKE '%:term_" . $i . "%' OR fname LIKE '%:term_" . $i . "%')";
}

$q = $conn->prepare($sql) or die("failed!");

for($i = 0; $i < count($terms); $i++)
  $q->bindValue(':term_' . $i, $terms[$i]);
$q->execute();