PHP code to search database from forms

[tjamesp]

Hello,

I have to appologize but I am very new to programing and web developemnt. I have developed a web site that will allow users to register and store their info in an database. I am using webmatrix to put it all together. I have no problem adding the info to the DB, but I am struggling with how to search through it. I would like for a user to be able to enter search criteria into any, or all or 4 different forms that correspond to 4 different columns in the db. I would like the resulting rows containing a union of all info in forms to be displayed, with blank forms being a wildcard. Can anyone help me? I have no idea where to start besides creating the HTML forms and writing the PHP to open the DB and define the columns I want to search as variables.

[broj1]

Here are some hints:

• when coding a form use name attributes that match column names
• decide whether use post or get method (post is slightly more secure, get can be easily bookmarked or saved)
• in any case clean the input before using it in a query (use at least escaping)
• use SELECT query to search and WHERE condition to limit search for the fields that have entered search terms
• decide if you allow partial matching of text fields (use % wildcards in a query)
• decide if you allow ranges for numeric and date values
• if you want to use full text search the table engine has to be of the correct type (MyISAM for mySql)
• store search values so you can autofill-in the form after the search has been performed

[liquidbroadcast]

I was just trying to get an idea how this is done.But Thanks you have made it easy by giving some hints.
Great job.well done.