[PHP] Coding Help

Travis1128 · October 21, 2011

Hello guys it's me again. I have not posted a question in awhile so I am glad to be on PHPFreaks again. Anyways here is my question,

I have simple "Filter By" or "Refine By" script I am developing. It's foundation is primarily database (MySQL) and does not use XML or other table files. This script simply add's filtered array ("objects") to the url as the customer filters his/her search. An example,

$attributeCodes("processor_type","color","memory"); // These arrays are defined and built from the database on the time of the request. So they are automatically updated.

The above array is used in an if/and/or statement to look for these attribute codes. If it finds it and it has a value it then refines the MySQL query to look for products with the said attribute code.

Now that we have the basics out there of how it works I am at the part where it confuses me.

I give the user the ability to filter his/her search, however I want the user to be able to remove these filters separately if wanted.

So for example the customer filters,

Domain.com/search/productsearch.php?catId=112&processor_type=AMD&memory=2gb

The customer does not need the memory filter and wishes to remove that specific item or vice-verse he/she does not want to search by processor_type. How is it that I can remove specifically one attribute and its value from the URL? So the url will then look like,

Domain.com/search/productsearch.php?catID=112&processor_type=AMD or

Domain.com/search/productsearch.php?catID=112&memory=2gb

Any help would be great. Or if you have any suggestions on a different method to filter by attributes products. Suggestions and criticism are welcome. Please do not be shy or modest when it comes to giving me advice as I am trying to learn efficiently.

- Travis

PFMaBiSmAd · October 21, 2011

Just remove that key/value from the $_GET array and rebuild the query-string part of the URL from the remaining $_GET keys/values. See http_build_query

<?php
unset($_GET['memory']);
echo "<a href='?" . http_build_query($_GET, '', '&') . "'>Some text here...</a>";

Travis1128 · October 22, 2011

Thank you for your reply.

My setup for this example looks like this,

<?php

error_reporting(0);

// Filter Arrays
$filter = Array("demo","demo2","demo3");

As you can see I am trying to attempt to find if the filter values in the array above are being used. Example,

www.Domain.com/search/productsearch.php?catId=112&demo=test

The customer then selects another filter and the url looks like this now,

www.Domain.com/search/productsearch.php?catId=1123&demo=test&demo2=test

I could not really get your method to apply to my script, and I was curious if you knew anything about how to implement it. Basically I am trying to attempt this,

Filtered Search

- Filter the products by filtering attributes.

- Allow the customer to remove/add filters based on their needs.

I was thinking as well, perhaps cookies or sessions would work with filtering data? I am not sure.

- Travis

PFMaBiSmAd · October 22, 2011

An example of how you can remove a filter -

<?php
// if the filter is present in the query-string, make a 'remove' link that will request the current page without that choice.

$filter = Array("demo","demo2","demo3");

foreach($filter as $choice){
if(isset($_GET[$choice])){
	$get = $_GET; // make a copy of the GET keys/values
	unset($get[$choice]); // remove the choice from the get keys/values
	$remove_links[] = "<a href='?".http_build_query($get, '', '&')."'>$choice</a>"; // make a link w/o the choice
}
}

if(!empty($remove_links)){ // build the 'remove' navigation
$remove_nav = "Remove Filter: " . implode(' | ',$remove_links);
}
?>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Filter example</title>
<style type="text/css">
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div>
<?php echo isset($remove_nav) ? $remove_nav : ''; ?>
</div>
<div>
<p>Other content on your page...</p>
</div>
</body>
</html>

Travis1128 · October 25, 2011

Thank you for your code. I am having a bit of an issue with another piece of code in relation to this.

private function displayOptions($atID){
	$this->mysqlConnect();
	$sql = "SELECT *
			FROM pcs_attribute pa, pcs_attribute_option pao
			WHERE pao.attribute_id = '$atID'
			AND pa.attribute_id = '$atID'";
	$query = $this->mysqlQuery($sql);
	print('<div class="attribute_items">');
	while($fetch = $this->mysqlFetch($query)){

                       // Code Input

	}
	print('</div>');
}

Basically I am trying to get this script to post a link containing the data of the example below,

www.domain.com/category.php?catID=1 - This is the default

But when the user clicks on "Processor Type -> AMD" I want it to take them too

www.domain.com/category.php?catID=1&processor_type=amd

Sounds simple right? This is where it gets tricky for me. I also am trying to create a no duplication protection from it which I am having the most trouble on. So in the example below you wont get this,

www.domain.com/category.php?catID=1&processor_type=amd&processor_type=amd

if the user can click on "processor type" still. I also am trying to make the "filters" stackable when clicked. Example,

www.domain.com/category.php?catID=1&processor_type=amd

then the user clicks a link and it changes

www.domain.com/category.php?catID=1&processor_type=amd&memory_size=3gb

If you or anyone else could help that would be great. If you have any more questions please do not hesitate to ask. I will continue to work on it and experiment and post back if I do find the solution. Thank you.

PFMaBiSmAd · October 25, 2011

Here is a hint - You would use code similar to the remove filter example, but compliment the logic. If the filter is not present in the current query-string, you would make a menu section for each choice by setting the get key/value, rather than un-setting it.

<?php
// create filter links -
// if the filter is not present in the query-string, make a menu section with 'add' links for each possible choice

$filters['processor_type'][] = 'amd'; // dummy data for demo purposes
$filters['processor_type'][] = 'intel';
$filters['memory_size'][] = '2gb';
$filters['memory_size'][] = '4gb';
$filters['memory_size'][] = '6gb';

$add_nav = ''; // build 'add' navigation
foreach($filters as $key => $array){
if(!isset($_GET[$key])){
	// the key is not present in the current query-string, list the choices
	$add_nav .= "<h4>".ucwords(str_replace('_',' ',$key))."</h4>\n<ul>\n";
	foreach($array as $choice){
		$get = $_GET; // make a copy of the GET keys/values
		$get[$key] = $choice; // add the choice to the get keys/values
		$add_link = "<a href='?".http_build_query($get, '', '&')."'>$choice</a>"; // make a link with the choice
		$add_nav .= "<li>$add_link</li>\n";	
	}
	$add_nav .= "</ul>\n";
}
}

Travis1128 · October 25, 2011

Thanks your for reply. Your script worked however this is how I am trying to implement it.

private function displayOptions($atID){
	$this->mysqlConnect();
	$sql = "SELECT *
			FROM pcs_attribute pa, pcs_attribute_option pao
			WHERE pao.attribute_id = '$atID'
			AND pa.attribute_id = '$atID'";
	$query = $this->mysqlQuery($sql);
	print('<div class="attribute_items">');
	while($fetch = $this->mysqlFetch($query)){
		// This is where the attribute options are retrieved and displayed

	}
	print('</div>');
}

private function displayAttributes($setID){
	$this->mysqlConnect();
	$sql = "SELECT *
			FROM pcs_attribute
			WHERE attribute_set_id = '$setID'
			OR attribute_is_global = '1'
			ORDER BY attribute_set_id ASC";
	$query = $this->mysqlQuery($sql);
	print('<div class="filter_by">Filter By</div>');
	while($fetch = $this->mysqlFetch($query)){
		// This is where the attributes display

		// This is the options
		$this->displayOptions($fetch['attribute_id']);
	}
}

So function displayAttributes(); is the function that displays the attributes within the database example,

- Processor Type

- Memory Size

- Color

And displayOptions(); is the function that displays the attributes within the attribute_options database. Example,

- AMD

- Intel

- 3Gb

- 4GB

- 5GB

- Red

- Blue

Each table also is assigned to the attribute above ("processor_type", "memory_size", "color") through the attribute_id. This is a numerical entity (i.e. 1,2,3) and really has no relation but felt I should mention it.

There is a final function called displayFilters();

public function displayFilters(){
	// Contsruct HTML
	$this->buildHtml();
	// Connect the MySQLa
	$this->mysqlConnect();
	// Check the Category to verify it is correct.
	if($this->checkCategory($this->mysqlEscape($_GET['catID']))){
		// The result is returned true.
		// Now lets begin to filter and find products within he attributes database.
		if($this->checkCategorySet($this->mysqlEscape($_GET['catID']))){
			// The result is returned true.
			$this->displayAttributes($this->getCategoryInfo($this->mysqlEscape($_GET['catID']), 'attribute_set_id'));
		} else {
			// The result is returned false.
			// This means there is no set assigned to this category
			print($this->message('1011'));
		}
	} else {
		// The result is returned false.
		print($this->message('1010'));
	}
}

This is where it displays the final build of everything.

If you have any questions please ask. I am working hard on this as well and I appreciate your help.

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