Hi, Since you are using a form to query the table i assume the subject1, subject and geographic will be variables. So, you could do something like:
SELECT * FROM links WHERE (subject1='$sub1' OR subject2='$sub2') AND GEOGRAPHIC like '$geo%' In this way, if the user enters no value for the variable $geo then the query statement will query with (WHERE geographic like '%' ) clause which will mean any country.. On the other hand, if the user enters a country name for the $geo , say Canada, then the query statement will query with (WHERE geopgrahic like 'Canada%') clause which will hit the rows with Canada. Gurhan -----Original Message----- From: phplist [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, March 15, 2002 7:01 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Fetching an optional array from an optional column I'm working on a form that queries by selection in PHP, where a user selects a subject and an optional selection of geographic region to get information. Each database entry will have 2 subject fields, Subject 1 being the main subject and Subject 2 being the cross-subject, and a geographic field, which is optional. A table is set up like this: +------+--------------+------+----------+----------+-------------+ | ID | Organization | URL | SUBJECT1 | SUBJECT2 | Geographic | +------+--------------+------+----------+----------+-------------+ | 1 | Acme | www | Math | English | Canada | | 2 | Loony Toons | www | Comedy | Math | Brazil | ... The idea is that the query will check the database to see if $Subject has a match in either Subject1 or Subject2. The geographic is an optional selection. If I select a country, then that's fairly simple. However, if I select Math as a subject, and left the Geographic option unselected, I want it to select all records that has a match in either Subject1 and Subject2, irregardless of the Geographic option. I tried the following query: SELECT * FROM links WHERE (SUBJECT1='Legislation' OR SUBJECT2='Legislation') AND GEOGRAPHIC = '' But it won't find the above records because the geographic is not a blank field. I could drop the ".. AND GEOGRAPHIC" part, but then if someone does select a country, it won't take country into consideration. How do I get it to select all records based on the subject, irregardless of the country? Thanks in advance, Lmlweb --------------------------------------------------------------------- Before posting, please check: http://www.mysql.com/manual.php (the manual) http://lists.mysql.com/ (the list archive) To request this thread, e-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, e-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Trouble unsubscribing? Try: http://lists.mysql.com/php/unsubscribe.php --------------------------------------------------------------------- Before posting, please check: http://www.mysql.com/manual.php (the manual) http://lists.mysql.com/ (the list archive) To request this thread, e-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, e-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Trouble unsubscribing? Try: http://lists.mysql.com/php/unsubscribe.php
