Swapping a string where space is found in php

Question

Hi,

I need to implement the following functionality:

I have a name field which contains both name and surname. This is stored in a database and is in the order 'surname name'.

I am implementing a script which searches through these records. Currently, I managed to check if a string contains a space, if it contains a space it means it is a name and not an ID Card Number for instance. Here is the code:

$query = "John Doe";

$checkIfSpaceExists = strpos($query, " ");

if ($checkIfSpaceExists == "")
{
    //No Space therefore it is not a name
}
else
{
    //Contains space
   $queryExploded = explode(" ", $query);
   foreach ($queryExploded as $q)
   {
      //Here I need the functionality so that if someone entered John Doe
      //2 different strings are saved, which are
      //$string1 = John Doe
      //$string2 = Doe Johns

      //If the name consists of 3 parts, strings for every combination is saved
}

Then I will insert these strings in an SQL statement with the LIKE attribute and there will be a LIKE for both JOHN DOE and DOE JOHN. Hence, if the user can either enter John Doe or Doe John in order to find the result.

Any suggestions on how to do this?

Many thanks

chris

Answer 1

What about using these exploded 3 strings in separate AND-combined LIKE-constraints?

Something like

"... WHERE name LIKE '%$name[0]%' AND name LIKE '%$name[1]%' AND name LIKE '%$name[2]%'"

You could build this String in a foreach loop.

Answer 2

Ok, from the start - be sure to read the manual carefully. strpos doesn't do exactly what you think it's doing. Here's how you should check for a space:

if (strpos($query, ' ') === false)  // the triple-equals is important!

After that, it's simply a matter of permutations and combinations. Here's another answer on Stack Overflow which shows you how to do it: algorithm that will take number or words and find all possible combinations

Answer 3

echo preg_replace('/^(\w+) (\w+)$/', '$2 $1', "John Doe");

Doe John

Answer 4

I guess you cannot split this field into name and surname? I suggest creating new table, tags in database. Tags will be any word - might be surname, may be name, may be ID number... Then make a connection record_tags with record_id and tag_id. Then the query will look like

SELECT record.* FROM record
INNER JOIN record_tags rt1 ON rt1.record_id = record.id
INNER JOIN tag t1 ON t1.id = rt1.tag_id
INNER JOIN record_tags rt2 ON rt2.record_id = record.id
INNER JOIN tag t2 ON t2.id = rt2.tag_id
WHERE
t1.name = "John"
AND t2.name = "Doe"

This will be better approach to searching, as you can then use any amount of words/tags. I think the SQL can be even easier. the multiple-like approach is I think much slower, especially as your database grows.

Answer 5

With some looping and string manipulation, I managed to implement this script.

Here is what I did:

I checked if the query contains a space using strpos. If it contains a space, then it means its a name with both name and surname so I enter a loop in order to output one string with 'name surname' and the other string with 'surname name'

Here is the code:

   $like = ""; //This is the LIKE sql command.
   foreach ($selectedFields as $field)
   {
            $checkIfSpaceExists = strpos($query," ");

 if ($checkIfSpaceExists != "")
 {
  $query1 = $query; //No space, so query1 is equal ta original query

  $queryExploded = explode(" ", $query);

  for ($i=0; $i<count($queryExploded); $i++) //First loop (name surname)
  {
   $tmp1 = $tmp1 . " " . $queryExploded[$i];
  }

  for ($i=count($queryExploded); $i>=0; $i--) //Second loop (surname name)
  {
   $tmp2 = $tmp2 . " " . $queryExploded[$i];

  }
  $query2 = $tmp2;
  $query2 = trim($query2);

  $like = $like . $field . " LIKE '%" . $query1 . "%' or " . $field . " LIKE '%" . $query2 . "%' or ";

I hope this helps someone else in need :)