How can PHP developers ensure the security of multi-input search forms when using PDO prepared statements?

PHP developers can ensure the security of multi-input search forms by using PDO prepared statements with placeholders for each input value. This prevents SQL injection attacks by automatically escaping special characters in the input values. Additionally, developers should validate and sanitize user input before executing the query to further enhance security. 

// Assume $pdo is the PDO connection object

// Retrieve search form inputs
$search_term = $_POST['search_term'];
$category = $_POST['category'];

// Prepare the SQL query using placeholders
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("SELECT * FROM products WHERE name LIKE :search_term AND category = :category");

// Bind the input values to the placeholders
$stmt->bindParam(':search_term', $search_term, PDO::PARAM_STR);
$stmt->bindParam(':category', $category, PDO::PARAM_STR);

// Execute the query
$stmt->execute();

// Fetch the results
$results = $stmt->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);

// Display the results
foreach ($results as $result) {
    echo $result['name'] . "<br>";
}

Keywords

PHP PDO prepared statements security multi-input search forms SQL injection

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