Search with set results

[dhtmlhelp]

Hi,

I am trying to either find or develop a search asp script that displays the results in <td>s. Each td is predefined, has an image of the item found on the left, a description, and a relevance %. Is there a script I can customise?

DHTMLHELP

[ecnarongi]

not sure what you want to search but here is a link I've posted before

http://www.scriptsearch.com/ASP/Scripts_and_Components/Searching/

I've played with a few of these and I guess you can figure out how to incorporate images. Like I said I have downloaded and played around with these so if you need more assistance please say so. The one thing that I didn't like about the scripts, for my purposes, is they were too slow.

[dhtmlhelp]

Hi,

most search scripts simply display the links to the pages that contain the keyword searched.

What I would like however is a script that displays a full description of each item matching the search keyword + a picture to the left + a rating. I believe each descrition would be drawn from a database. Each item is displayed in a row.

Many sites have this function. An example is

https://www.boysstuff.co.uk

if you do a search it will display the results in the same format I would like them displayed. Is this method very complicated or can I achieve it with a freeware script.

Alternatively can you recommend some books I can read to achieve the same result and some scripts to start from.

DHTMLHELP

[ecnarongi]

OK, to display a full description just have the full descritption in the meta tag, as far as these scripts go.

see these take the meta tag from the page and display whatever that is, if what you have are products then have a seperate field in the DB that holds the description you want to display.

You can also do this for displaying images, have a field in the DB hold images. so when a record matches the search criteria it yields the needed description and image.

this is not hard at all, because I believe all you are doing is searching a database field 'keywords' and sending back records that macth this.

are you searching a website for keywords or searching a DB for keywords??

[dhtmlhelp]

Hi ecnaronji,

I don't have anything at the moment so I am starting from scratch. My guess, please let me know if I am wrong, is that a database is the best solution for the longer term.

I have absolutely no knowledge of asp or MySQL (are these the languages I need?) but I would like to learn more and be able to do it myself, possibly starting from some initial script/idea and then do some basic reverse engineering if that is the word for it.

Do you know where I can start from, if a database is the best solution for the longer term (ie when more items/products will be added), and of any scripts that can give me a head start?

DHTMLHELP

[whammy]

A database undoubtedly is your best solution. As to what language you would like to use, that's pretty much up to what you're able to use systemwise, etc.

I would recommend PHP/MySQL - or ASP/SQLServer ASP/AccessDB... since PHP and ASP are probably the two most commonly used server-side scripting languages...

I'd research them a little bit and figure out which one suits your style the best.

[dhtmlhelp]

Hi,

I am on a Windows server so ASP is my only alternative. As to SQLServer or AccessDB I wouldn't know which is faster/best.

Can someone please post a script I could start from?

DHTMLHELP

[ReyN]

hmmm, not sure if this is what you need or want, but you can probably get some thing off this article on letting users search a db.

Letting users search for information

[whammy]

SQLServer is better/faster - but unless you are looking at say 50,000 records or more Access should be just fine... (that's just a guess by the way).

I use Access for lots of scripts... but not for the serious stuff at work where we have millions of records!

[whammy]

P.S. I'd also check out:

http://www.liquidrage.com

http://www.4guysfromrolla.com

http://www.learnasp.net

I know that liquidrage and 4guys have some good starter stuff for ya.

[dhtmlhelp]

What are the disadvantages of SQLServer vs AccessDB (costs, ease of learning, etc.)?

DHTMLHELP

[ecnarongi]

if your host has a free SQLserver (mySQL, msSQL, SQLserver, etc.) use that it is very simple to set up. If you have access and don't plan on your db ever taking more than 50K records use that. But my question still remains, "what type of search are you doing??"

[dhtmlhelp]

Hi ecnarongi.

I don't understand what you mean by what search I am doing. I have different products; they all have a full description, pics, etc. What I want the search to do is display the image of the item to the left, part of the description to the right of the image (in the center of the td), a 'read more ...' if the description is cut (ie max length of description for searches is defined), and an accuracy rating for each item found.

Products are ~60 but will increase to ~200 in the coming months. As far as I understand it I should be using ASP.net (I am on a windows server) and MySQL/SQLServer (which one would be better - speed/ease of learning?).

DHTMLHELP

[whammy]

For ease of learning, ASP is the way to go with your scripting language.

There obviously won't be as much documentation on ASP.NET, since it's fairly new (and to me it seems a lot harder, but to be honest I still haven't had much time at all to devote to it).

As for SQLServer vs. Access - IMHO database stuff is database stuff... I haven't truly mastered it yet, but I really don't see where SQLServer is any harder/easier than Access, since they both use SQL (Structured Query Language).

P.S. Regarding my last paragraph, I'm pretty sure that would apply to MySQL as well, since it also uses SQL... database stuff is all pretty similar... so I wouldn't let that stop ya.

If you want the fastest, use MySQL. I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but I'm itching to!

Just another 2 cents worth