Please excuse the length and complexity of this post. I am facing a
complicated problem and need to find a solution. Also, I have posted this on
both PHP and MySQL boards so please overlook the possibly slightly off-topic
subject.
I have got one table that contains personal information about users. Another
table consists of a list of many interests. This table is composed of simply
2 fields - an ID and the interest. (see below)
I can build an HTML form which includes a multiple select list out of which
the user can select their interests. I have the list configured so that it
displays the "interest" while the value stored is the "ID". PHP stores this
entry as an Array which I can easily turn into a comma delimited list before
storing in the database.
Here's my problem. If I store a comma-delimited list in a text field in the
Users table, how do I query to determine anyone that has selected specific
interests? If I use a full-text search and someone selects "1" for their
search criteria, the query will return anyone who selects 1, 10, 11, 12, 13,
14, etc. as their interest.
This problem has surely occurred for others. It would affect how you store
newsletters for which one might subscribe, keywords in a clipart system,
interests the user has, anything from which you want your users to select
multiple entries from a long list of choices.
Table = Interests
Fields = ID, int, auto-increment
Interests, text
Table = Users
Fields = ID, int, auto-increment
Name, text
Address, text
Interests, text
Thanx in advance for any help you might provide. If anyone knows of anything
written on configuring this type of system, please include a link.
Robb Kerr
Digital IGUANA
