Advanced search with MySQL

[Vesku]

Hi !


How can i make advanced search with MySQL ?

If i have in STAFF -table value James Smith, how can i find that if i search using searchword 'Smi' or 'jame' ???

I have now code like this:

$query="SELECT * FROM staff WHERE ID = '$searchword' OR Name = '$searchword' OR Email = '$searchword' OR Telephone = '$searchword' ORDER BY Name";



Thx !!

 

[rycamor]

A short example

$searchword = "Smi";

$query="SELECT * FROM staff WHERE ID LIKE '$searchword%';

The above would find any record where the ID column starts with "Smi".

$query="SELECT * FROM staff WHERE ID LIKE '%$searchword%';

This would find any record where the ID column contains "Smi" somewhere. The % is like the * wildcard when doing file searches, it can match any number of characters. There are a lot of other operators that let you do more specific things, though.

I can show you a quick way to deal with a specific instance, but I cannot do your homework for you. If you want to use MySQL to even one-fiftieth of its capability, you need to learn some basic SQL.

There are some excellent MySQL tutorials available at Devshed (

http://www.devshed.com/Server_Side/MySQL/),

and plenty more available at

http://www.phpbuilder.com,

just to name a few. I recommend starting with "Speaking SQL", Parts I and II at Devshed, then browsing around for more sophisticated stuff.

I also recommend the Oreilly book "MySQL and mSQL" for a nice database intro that presents things concisely, without giving you too much to chew on at any one time. (

http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/msql/)

Have fun learning ;-)