Hello I have 2 textboxes and i want to give to the user the option to choose one in order to find results. The user can search through the id or the name. My problem is because i use LIKE%field% when the user chooses to search through the id the name field stays empty and returns all the table rows. I want to have results only if the user enters some value in the textbox. This is my sql query. I'm using mysql
"SELECT * FROM properties WHERE ID='$id' OR Name LIKE '%$name%'"
Thank you all
You can do this in a single query (values are checked from the query itself):
"SELECT * FROM properties WHERE ('$id'='' OR ID='$id') AND ('$name' ='' OR Name LIKE '%$name%')"
Explanation:
First condition:
The query will select records with ID='$id' only when $id is not empty. If $id is empty, query will not go for the second part ID='$id'
Second condition:
The query filters records with Name LIKE '%$name%' only when $name is not empty. If $name is empty, query will not go for Name LIKE '%$name%'.
NB: This technique is extremely useful when you have numerous parameters to check, rather than using a bunch of if...elses at php side.
If the user has to select which field to search, you can do:
if ($_POST['search'] == 'id') {
$sql = "SELECT * FROM properties WHERE ID='$id'"
} else {
$sql = "SELECT * FROM properties WHERE Name LIKE '%$name%'"
}