Cakephp Search Form

In this CakePHP tutorial I would like to show you how I handle search forms, while preserving pagination.

The basic principal is to read the posted variables, and redirect the user to a page with the appropriate filters in the URL.

Add the Search Form

Lets add a search form on the index page to search through the records. index.ctp

<?php echo $form->create('Post',array('action'=>'search'));?>

    <fieldset>

        <legend><?php __('Post Search');?></legend>

    <?php

        echo $form->input('Search.keywords');

        echo $form->input('Search.id');

        echo $form->input('Search.name',array('after'=>__('wildcard is *',true)));

        echo $form->input('Search.body',array('after'=>__('wildcard is *',true)));

        echo $form->input('Search.active',array(

            'empty'=>__('Any',true),

            'options'=>array(

                0=>__('Inactive',true),

                1=>__('Active',true),

            ),

        ));

        echo $form->input('Search.created', array('after'=>'eg: >= 2 weeks ago'));

        echo $form->input('Search.category_id');

        echo $form->input('Search.tag');

        echo $form->input('Search.tag_id');

        echo $form->submit('Search');

    ?>

    </fieldset>

<?php echo $form->end();?>