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Asked: 2026-06-11T08:27:04+00:00

Possible Duplicate: How do I create a PDO parameterized query with a LIKE statement

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Possible Duplicate:
How do I create a PDO parameterized query with a LIKE statement in PHP?

At the moment I have a very simple search engine which uses the old mysql_* queries and also uses “like” in the query, i understand this is now outdated and using like queries can get slow as the database grows?

I am looking for some ideas on how I can create a search engine using PDO as it offers more protection than i currently have, I have researched about using MATCH and AGAINST in a query,to search the “title” and “description” columns in my database, but as i am a beginner i am unsure of where to start.

I get stuck on trying to figure out how to implement a search query, and getting the search to work if the user enters multiple keywords

any help is much appreciated, i understand this might be a big ask of someone to explain this to me but i am doing as much as i can to learn as i am a student and working on a project

Thankyou for anyones help!

THIS IS PART OF MY CURRENT CODE WHICH I WOULD LIKE TO CHANGE AND UPDATE TO SOMETHING MORE SECURE AND WITH BETTER SEARCH FACILITIES:

$query = "SELECT * FROM people WHERE ";

foreach ($terms as $each){
$i++;

if ($i == 1)
    $query .= "lname LIKE '%$each%' ";
if($i == 1 && $_GET['category'] != '') {
    $query .= "AND category = '$chosencategory' ";
}
else
    $query .= "AND lname LIKE '%$each%' ";
if($_GET['price'] != '') {
    $query .= " ORDER BY price $price";
}
echo $query;
}
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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Now that’s a very complicated topic. So I’m just going to point you to a few starting points. If someone else is able to formulate a good answer to this hugely complicated topic here, I’d be glad to give them an upvote..

    • Doctrine 1 has a decent “search engine”. [1] (If you’re not already using an ORM, I highly recommend you give it a try.)
    • Lucene[2] is also worth a try.
    • Roll your own search engine. I also used to think it’s about some MySQL features or something, but it’s really not. It’s all about building good indexes and using them well. (Building them yourself, that is. Not just using database indexes.) It’s actually a pretty interesting topic to get into, if you have the time.
    • Buy Nine Algorithms That Changed the Future by John MacCormick.[3] It’s got an awesome chapter about how search engines work.

    [1] http://docs.doctrine-project.org/projects/doctrine1/en/latest/en/manual/searching.html

    [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucene

    [3] http://www.amazon.com/Nine-Algorithms-That-Changed-Future/dp/0691147140

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