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Creating a Code Search Engine with PHP and MySQL

4/12/2007

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(Editor's note: Tutorials on the PHP development platform are popular at Intranet Journal and other Jupitermedia Web sites.

Developer.com, a sister site of Intranet Journal, has published an excellent, comprehensive PHP tutorial by author Jason Gilmore. Here's the beginning of the article. Then follow the link to the full article on Developer.com.)

I'm just a few days away from launching a comprehensive support Web site for my book, "Beginning PHP and MySQL 5, Second Edition," and among other features, have built a search engine for sifting through the more than 500 code snippets found throughout the book. This was an interesting exercise because it involves a number of storing a fairly significant amount of text within a MySQL database, using MySQL's full-text search facility, and devising an effective way to extract and display the code in the browser.

In this article I'll offer a simplified version of this search engine, introducing you to some compelling PHP and MySQL features along the way. You might adopt what you learn towards building your own search engine, or towards other applications.

The Database Schema

Just a single table is required for the engine's operation. The table, code, serves as the code repository. Each example is stored along with a suitable title and the chapter number in which it appears. Because the search engine should retrieve examples based on keywords found in the example title or in the code itself, a FULLTEXT index has been added for these columns. Because the table contents will rarely change beyond the occasional bug fix, its backed by the read-optimized MyISAM storage engine. The table follows: (Go to the full article on Developer.com for the table.)

Loading the Table

The downloadable zip file containing all of the book's code should be easily navigable so readers can easily retrieve the desired example. To meet this requirement, the zip file contains a number of directories labeled according to chapter number (1, 2, 3, ... 37), and each script is aptly named with a lowercase title and series of underscores, for example retrieving_array_keys.php. Therefore a script capable of dealing with these two organizational matters is required in order to automate the process of loading the scripts into the database.

(Go to the full article on Developer.com.)

About the Author

W. Jason Gilmore is Apress' Open Source Editorial Director, and co-founder of IT Enlightenment. He's the author of several books, including the bestselling "Beginning PHP and MySQL 5: Novice to Professional, Second Edition" (Apress, 2006. 913pp.). Jason loves receiving e-mail; so don't hesitate to write him at wjATwjgilmore.com.

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