Selecting from database (regardless of case)

[PumpkinHead]

Hi,

I have a phonebook function where the user can enter a first name/surname etc. The form then accesses a database (through ODBC..not MySQL) that selects any records with matching details.

The problem I have is that most users enter details in lower case (I.e myname), and the entries on the database can be any case at all (I.e Myname or MyName).

Whats the best solution to this problem? I was thinking about changing both the input name and database name to upper case before comparing? If so, is there a php function to do this?

Many thanks :)

[grandpa]

PHP has three functions to handle case in strings.

$string = strtolower($string); // make it lower case
$string = strtoupper($string); // make it UPPER case
$string = ucwords($string); // make it Upper Case First Letter

I believe that you can use a wildcard in your query and it will ignore case.

$sql = "SELECT * FROM table WHERE field LIKE 'C%' ";
I'm pretty sure this will return everything that begins with the letter C, irrespective of case.

[chrisjoha]

You can also lower case values with MySQL:
"SELECT * FROM TABLE WHERE lower(field) = lower($value)"

[PumpkinHead]

Many thanks both, the code chrisjoha provided was exactly what I was looking for.

[tomda]

PHP has three functions to handle case in strings.

And...
$string = ucfirst($string); // make it Upper case first character

[grandpa]

I started to say

PHP has at least three functions to handle case in strings

Then changed my mind...