How to check for empty string and empty search type?

**tony007** · May 23rd, 2006, 10:45 AM

Hi all . I wonder how make sure the user selected search type m and typed search term s. If they do not i post them this massage along with search box again and rest of scrip does not run:

::: Invalid Search :::

You can not search for empty string, your search word must be at least 3 character long. Try again please

Code:

<table border="0" cellspacing="0" width="90%" id="table1"
style="border-style:dashed&gt;
	&lt;tr&gt;
		&lt;td&gt;
		&lt;p align="
center">
    <tr>
        <td><b><i>::: Search </i></b><font color="#FF0000"><b><i>New</i></b></font>
        ::: <br>
        <form action="searchprocess.php" method="GET" name="form1">
            <p><input type="text" size="20" name="s">  </p>

<select name="m">
		    <option selected>Select a search type</option>
<option value="artist">Search By Artist</option>
<option value="title">Search By Title</option>
<option value="album">Search by Album</option>

          </select>
<input
            type="submit" > </p>
        </form>
        </td>
    </tr>
</table>

PHP PART

PHP Code:




<?

error_reporting(E_ALL); 



$m   = $HTTP_GET_VARS['m'];



$s   = $HTTP_GET_VARS['s'];







switch ($m){

 case "title": 

$query  = "select id,artist,album,songname from musictest where songname like '%$s%'";

  break;

 case "album": 



$query  = "select DISTINCT album, artist from musictest where album like '%$s%' ";



  break;

 case "artist": 

 $query  = "select DISTINCT artist from musictest where artist like '%$s%' ";

  break;

}



$result = mysql_query($query);

if (! ($result = mysql_query($query))) {

    echo(mysql_error());

    exit;

}

?>

standred html for page view and using switch to setup diffrent table for 

each type of search

<html>

<head>

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="./default.css">

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">

<title> </title>

</head>

<body topmargin="0" leftmargin="0" ONLOAD="preloadImages();">



.....

.....

<? switch ($m):case "title": ?>

 <tr><tr>

        <td width="5%"><b>#</b></td>

        <td width="30%"><b>Song</b></td>

        <td width="20%"><b>In Album</b></td>

        <td width="20%"><b>By Singer</b></td>

        

    </tr>



.....

.....



<? endswitch; ?>



<?

$numbers=0;

while($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result))

{



 // again usage of switch for each type of serach type output to make the table 

....

....

<? endswitch; ?>



<?





} // end of while loop





?>





<?

switch ($m):

 case "title": ?>



  </table>





 <? break;

 case "artist": ?>

    

</table>

 <? break;

 case "album": ?>

     </table>

<? break;

 default: ?>

 this is some default html



<? endswitch; ?>



</body>



</html>

**kfcSmitty** · May 23rd, 2006, 11:08 AM

You could just use the strlen and trim functions and if it returns 0, then display an error.

References:

http://ca.php.net/manual/en/function.strlen.php

http://ca.php.net/manual/en/function.trim.php

HTH

**john tindell** · May 23rd, 2006, 11:55 AM

You should use isset() in the first place to make sure that the variable is set in the first place, this will prevent warning messages being printed out by PHP.

**tony007** · May 23rd, 2006, 01:52 PM

Originally Posted by john tindell

You should use isset() in the first place to make sure that the variable is set in the first place, this will prevent warning messages being printed out by PHP.

well as u see from my code i got lots of html and php mixed code . could u show me how to use it ?Thanks

**kfcSmitty** · May 23rd, 2006, 01:55 PM

Just before you go to run your query, use

PHP Code:


If (isset($m) && isset($s))

{



code



}

isset simply checks to see if there is a value within the variable. If it contains null, it returns false.

HTH

**tony007** · May 23rd, 2006, 02:12 PM

kfcSmitty thank u for u reply. do u mean put the whole switch inside if loop?.I already get error if m and s are empty but not customed error and no black form!!! and i wonder what does this code do !!!!

What i am realy looking for a solution that allow me print a customed massage and pring blank search form.if either m or s or both are nulls how i can display a cusstomed errror with a seach form again and avoid running the rest of my code ? what i mean the rest of the code is the mixed html and php code after $result = mysql_query($query); that i did not post in my first post. It is huge code and i wonder how to deal with them since it is dam confusing to put them inside if loop if it is required!! so i be happy if u show me a some simple way to avoid putting large mixed code inside if loop.Thanks

**visualAd** · May 23rd, 2006, 05:13 PM

The HTTP_*_VARS globals have been deprecated, so you neet to use $_GET:

PHP Code:




$m   = $_GET['m'];



if (isset($_GET['s'])) {

    $s   = $_GET['s'];

    

    if(strlen($s) < 3) {

        $error = "

You can not search for empty string, your search word must be at least 3 character long. Try again please "

    } 

}

You must also use mysql_escape_string, before embedding the search term in a wquery, otherwise characters in the search term may be interpreted as SQL. This can crash your app or worse if the person at the other end constructs a search term with addittional SQL, allow them to view information about your database and the system it runs one.

**tony007** · May 23rd, 2006, 05:50 PM

visual ad how to check for m value which is search type ? how to use mysql_escape_string?

It keeps giving me error:
Parse error: syntax error, unexpected in bold parts!

if ( isset($_GET['s']) )
{
$s = $_GET['s'];

if(strlen($s) < 3) )
{
$error = " You can not search for empty string, your search word must be at least 3 character long. Try again please "
}
}

**penagate** · May 23rd, 2006, 10:03 PM

I have re written your code for you. Take note of the layout and techniques I've used. Your original code was a bit messy and you executed the query twice for some reason.

PHP Code:


<?php

  error_reporting(E_ALL);



  /*

    -- explaining the following if() condition: --

    if get 'm' and get 's' are both set, then set $mode to $_GET['m']

      and $searchTerm to $_GET['s'],

    proceed if trimmed length of both is greater than zero

  */

  

  if (

    (isset($_GET['m']) && isset($_GET['s'])) &&

    strlen(trim($mode = $_GET['m'])) > 0 && strlen(trim($searchTerm = $_GET['s'])) > 0

  ) {  

    switch ($mode) {

      case 'title':

        $query =  

          'select `id`, `artist`, `album`, `songname` '.

          'from `musictest` '.

          'where `songname` like \''.$searchTerm.'\'';

        break;

      case 'album':

        $query =

          'select distinct `album`, `artist` '.

          'from `musictest` '.

          'where `album` like \''.$searchTerm.'\'';

        break;

      case 'artist':

        $query = 

          'select distinct `artist` '.

          'from `musictest` '.

          'where `artist` like \''.$searchTerm.'\'';

        break;

      default:

        // unrecognised search mode

    }

    

    $result = mysql_query($query);

    

    if (is_resource($result)) {

      if (mysql_num_rows($result) > 0) {

        while ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)) {

          // output results

        }

      }

      else {

        // no results found

      }

    }

    else {

      // query error

      echo mysql_error();

    }

  }

  else {

    // mode or search term not specified

  }

?>

You will have to fill in the code, to output the appropriate messages for each error condition.

**tony007** · May 23rd, 2006, 11:35 PM

penagate i do not think the above code will help me since i got over 200 php and html mixed lines of code and displaying diffrent tables for each type of search output and just puting that inside while loop will not make my program to work!! I get tones of errrors :-((.

I was looking for solution just like break used in switch whenever error occoured or either s or m was empty but apperently i do not get such solution!!!

I got html and php mixed code before while loop and inside while loop and after while loop to display proper table for each type of search type output .Also no connection infor in u code such as this :

PHP Code:


// change below is your assigned mySQL username

$user = "root";



// change to the pw below is your assigned mySQL password

$pw = "";



// change to the database you have permission to connect to

$db = "test";







//mysql_connect("localhost", "root", ""); 

$mysql_access = mysql_connect("localhost", $user, $pw);

mysql_select_db($db, $mysql_access);



if (! mysql_select_db($db, $mysql_access)) {

    echo(mysql_error());

    die;

}



.....

.....

.....

**visualAd** · May 24th, 2006, 12:22 AM

I suggest you go away and learn PHP.

**kfcSmitty** · May 24th, 2006, 07:50 AM

Also, it is never a good idea to run your php scripts through root! I suggest you create a new user with just enough permissions to run your script. Otherwise, if someone hacks your script, they can get complete control of your system.

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