PHP/MySQL Boolean Search Script Updated

October 21, 2007

Topics: Web Development.

Just a quick announcement that I’ve updated my search script for Boolean matching in MySQL. The latest version is available for download on the PHP (Hypertext PreProcessing)/MYSQL Search Engine script page.

The changes to this version include:

  • Fixed: various minor bugs
  • Fixed: multipage results not available with quoted strings
  • Fixed: full-text query problem
  • Fixed: some compatibility issues with different PHP/MySQL configurations.
  • Added: sortable results
  • Added: configurable field label names
  • Added: sample results page
  • Added: test mode for troubleshooting.

It’s not a massive update; but the script should be easier to use and more reliable.

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11 Comments to “PHP/MySQL Boolean Search Script Updated”

  1. Joe Dolson; November 9, 2008 at 8:56 pm

    @robson – Hi! I’ve been out of town for the last few days, but I’ll take a look when I get a chance.

    @olli – I appreciate your comments, but you’re addressing them to the wrong person. That’s the way the * operator was designed in MySQL: it operates as a terminal wildcard, not an initial wildcard. More about Boolean queries in MySQL.

    Best,
    Joe

  2. olli; November 9, 2008 at 1:17 pm

    Hi,

    nice Script, but “*enwood” returns no results (Kenwood)… 🙁

  3. Robson; November 5, 2008 at 12:30 pm

    Sorry to bother you again, man, but I’m havin a little problem with the script and maybe you can help me.
    On saturday, I made my company’s most recent project public. Its a search engine where people can find the whole content of the local phone book online.
    The problem I’m having is that I’m not finding some things that I know that are in the DB. I dont know if it’s my mistake or it’s not a mistake at all.
    The only modifications I made to your original script were: I made it OO to suit the rest of the project, I made every query start with a + when no operator is used and I put an * in every query. Its all on http://www.bqbuscas.com.br
    I hope u can help me and sorry, again, to bother u.
    Thanks in advance

  4. Joe Dolson; October 7, 2008 at 9:31 am

    Thanks, Robson. The only way I know to use wildcards at the beginning of your query string is by using regular expressions — and (although I’m not 100% sure,) I don’t think you can combine regular expressions with the fulltext search expressions.

    What you could do is add a regular expression mode option to the script such that a person can elect to do a search providing only the end of the word, and it would run the search using the separate select statement with a regular expression — but, sadly, the fulltext options simply don’t include a stemming selector. Maybe someday…

  5. Robson; October 6, 2008 at 9:04 pm

    Thank you very much for the script, Joe. I’ve been using it since version 1.5 and I’m always glad to find out the great enhancements you always make to it.
    I really need to use a wildcard both in the beginning and in the end of the query string. I’ve searched extensively to find out a way to accomplish it but I’m still clueless. Is there a way or a workaround I can implement in order to get to it?? Sorry to bother. And thank you very much again.

  6. Joe Dolson; August 11, 2008 at 2:26 pm

    Thanks, Alen! Look forward to hearing from you after you’ve finished things up.

  7. Alen; August 11, 2008 at 10:27 am

    I just found your script googling out to find a nice php script to run on my website.
    after trying your demo i got a GREAT impression about it! Bravo!

    After putting it in production i will let you know!

    cu!

  8. Joe Dolson; June 19, 2008 at 12:18 pm

    In fact, it does support the “*” wildcard operator. It’s only available as a final wildcard, but you can enter “cur*” to perform a search for terms beginning with “cur.” (Curtain, curtail, current, etc.)

    I think that this is documented in the script somewhere, although I’ll be honest that I don’t recall the details right now…

    I appreciate the comment, however, and I’ll make a point of adding that to the documentation as soon as possible!

  9. Susan; June 19, 2008 at 8:52 am

    Thanks for this lovely site and this utility. I wonder, is there a reason why it searches for whole words only? We have a small database but there are some technical terms which are difficult to spell. Is it possible for users to add an * or something if they want a truncated value?

  10. Joe Dolson; October 23, 2007 at 9:40 am

    Certainly worth noting. I can’t honestly say that PHP (Hypertext PreProcessing) 6 is at the front of my thoughts right now — given how long it takes for these things to move into production environments. However, since preg functions are available now, I might as well make the switch!

    Thanks –

  11. Mike Cherim; October 23, 2007 at 8:25 am

    Nice job Joe. I do want to note one thing: The ereg()/eregi() functions will no longer be supported with PHP6 so you might want to replace that with preg_match() in the next build.