database entries search

[backups2007]

I need help on database entry search.

I am developing an inventory system. And I want a user to be able to search based on words/keywords that they will input in a textbox.

Could anybody give suggestions? Thanks in advance.

[nathj]

I need help on database entry search.

I am developing an inventory system. And I want a user to be able to search based on words/keywords that they will input in a textbox.

Could anybody give suggestions? Thanks in advance.

backups2007,

The lowtech solution is to have a form which allows the user to search the inventory, post the information to a search results page. This page tests the information from the form and then, if it's good executes a search on the database displaying any selected results.

The Form
[html]
<form id="searchForm" action="searchresults.php" method="post">
<input type="text" size="20" id ="searchText"name="searchText"/>
<input type="submit" id="SearchButton" value="Search" />
</form>
[/html]

The PHP
[php]
<?php
// test the data
if(!empty($_POST['searchText']))
{
// search the database
}
[/php]

This should give you a starting point, I do not know your data structure so you'll have to put in the SQL. But then it's a case of echoing out the results or displaying a message saying there are no matches.

Cheers
nathj

[ronverdonk]

Searching the database in a simple SQL stetement using regular expressions:
[php]
$sql = "SELECT * FROM table_name ".
" WHERE field1 REGEXP '$search_word' ".
" OR field2 REGEXP '$search_word' ".
" OR field3 REGEXP '$search_word' ".
" OR field5 REGEXP '$search_word' ".
" ORDER BY field1 ";
$result = mysql_query($sql)
or die("Error searching: ".mysql_error());
while ($wrn = mysql_fetch_array($result) ) {
// here display the results
}
[/php]
Ronald

[backups2007]

backups2007,

The lowtech solution is to have a form which allows the user to search the inventory, post the information to a search results page. This page tests the information from the form and then, if it's good executes a search on the database displaying any selected results.

The Form
[html]
<form id="searchForm" action="searchresults.php" method="post">
<input type="text" size="20" id ="searchText"name="searchText"/>
<input type="submit" id="SearchButton" value="Search" />
</form>
[/html]

The PHP
[php]
<?php
// test the data
if(!empty($_POST['searchText']))
{
// search the database
}
[/php]

This should give you a starting point, I do not know your data structure so you'll have to put in the SQL. But then it's a case of echoing out the results or displaying a message saying there are no matches.

Cheers
nathj

What if I put a dropdown box that may give a user an option which table to choose to search in. If for example, I have a user, product, and employee table.

Could you give any suggestions with that? Thanks in advance...

[hawkenterprises]

I would recommend a good full text search, doing a select on a inventory system will bog down your system fast.

http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/fulltext-search.html