[SOLVED] Searching for key words in a string

[eoeowner]

Okay, here's the deal. I have a php based site that shows information about different bands. I want to be able to link to a particular band by clicking on a word within the entered variable for the text.

 

eg: Listen to Tool, they are a top band. - I want the word Tool to be a link to the Tool page.

 

I have worked out by exploding the string, checking each word against the band names and then joining the string back together, I can find any one word key words in any variable....

 

But, I want to be able to have a phrase. So, I want to be able to find "Iron Maiden" or "Cradle of Filth" and that doesn't work with the join/explode thing since they need a delimiter.

 

Apart from some sort of sadistic SELECT search.... how can I do this???

 

[effigy]

If you're searching through HTML, try this approach. Otherwise, you can simply use a regular expression with word boundaries.

[eoeowner]

Okay, I've had a decent go at trying to get it and it's beating me...

 

If i can give you an exact example, can you help me out with the preg_ code?

 

So...

 

$string="I love Iron Maiden they are <b>sooo cool</b>"

 

$keyword="Iron Maiden"

 

$KeywordLinkNumber="34"

 

Ultimately I want to have $string to read...

 

$string="I love <a href="example.php?34">Iron Maiden</a> they are <b>sooo cool</b>"  (with slashes if need be)

 

How would you work that?

 

The idea is that the keywords and link numbers are kept in a table and I want to check any posts for links to bands. So that when a post is written ($string) it automatically inserts a link to the band's page.

 

How would I go about doing that?  ???

[kenrbnsn]

You could do something like this:

<?php
$keywords = array(34 => 'Iron Maiden');
$string = 'I love Iron Maiden they are sooo cool';
foreach ($keywords as $num => $key)
    $string = str_replace($key,'<a href="example.php?' . $num . '">' . $key . '</a>',$string);
?>

 

Ken

[eoeowner]

Okay, that seems to be working okay....

 

A couple of questions, though.

 

Instead of $keywords = array (34 => 'Iron Maiden');

 

I need to pull a query from the mySQL db how do I translate $keyword and $num into the array ($num => $key) format? Does it change it much?

 

Also, can I make it case insensitive?

 

Thanks for your help btw.... 

[eoeowner]

Okay I have...

 

<?php

$num[1]=34;
$num[2]=32;
$key[1]="Iron Maiden";
$key[2]="cool";

$keywords = array($num[$a] => $key[$a],$num[2] => $key[2]);


$string = 'I love Iron Maiden they are sooo cool and iron maideny';

foreach ($keywords as $num => $key)
    $string = str_replace($key,'<a href="example.php?' . $num . '">' . $key . '</a>',$string);

print $string;

?>

 

...working for me, but how do I take the next step and automate the population of the $keywords array?

[kenrbnsn]

You don't need the extra arrays. Change your example to:

<?php
$keywords = array(34 => "Iron Maiden",32 => 'cool');


$string = 'I love Iron Maiden they are sooo cool and iron maideny';

foreach ($keywords as $num => $key)
    $string = str_replace($key,'<a href="example.php?' . $num . '">' . $key . '</a>',$string);

print $string;

?>

 

If you need to automagically add to this array using a database. do something like:

<?php
//
// your mysql query here
//
while ($rw = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)) 
    $keywords[$rw['num']] = $rw['keyword'];
?>

 

Or just do the replace in the database while loop:

<?php
//
// your mysql query here
//
while ($rw = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)) 
    $string = str_replace($rw['keyword'],'<a href="example.php?' . $rw['num] . '">' . $key . '</a>',$string);
?>

 

Ken

[eoeowner]

Okay, I have tried as you suggested, inserted the mySQL commands and change the variable names to match. Worked perfectly.

 

Thanks to all who helped. You guys are awesome.