[thelist] Search closest match across multiple columns (mysql)
Dave Stevens
evolt at davestevens.co.uk
Tue Apr 15 16:49:42 CDT 2008
Hi list,
I have a database table which contains basic biographic data about
various people (height, weight, date of birth). I then have a form that
allows a user to input a specific value for each of these pieces of data
and need to return the closest matching people in the table, with
closest match first.
So, for example, assuming my table contains this data:
name height weight dateofbirth
Joe Bloggs 60 50 1980-05-02
John Smith 70 65 1972-01-17
Jane Doe 45 20 1987-12-14
If my user entered:
height: 50
weight: 35
date of birth: 1981-11-01
My application would return Jane Doe first, then Joe Bloggs and finally
John Smith.
I'm using MySQL as my database and while I approached this problem
confidently, I've not had any luck in solving it adequately.
Can anyone offer any pointers?
Thanks,
Dave
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