[Resolved] Remove spaces from user input before using it as query filter

[Author]

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[zoeS]

I have a search by reference form that takes a user input and looks to match it against a custom field. It works perfectly if the user input exactly matches the custom field (e.g. AB12345), but not if it contains spaces (e.g. AB 12345). Is there any way I can sanitise the user input to remove spaces before using it as the filter? Attached are screenshots of my form and of the query filter. Many thanks!

[Waqar]

Hi,

Thank you for contacting us and I'd be happy to assist.

You can use the "wpv_filter_query" filter to strip spaces from the value entered by the user in a specific custom search field:
https://toolset.com/documentation/programmer-reference/views-filters/#wpv_filter_query

For example, suppose you have a view with ID "1234" and the custom field with slug "reference". The code to filter spaces would look like this:

add_filter( 'wpv_filter_query', 'wpv_filter_query_func', 1000 , 3 );
function wpv_filter_query_func( $query_args, $view_settings ) {
	// skip if blocks edit screen
	if ( defined( 'REST_REQUEST' ) && REST_REQUEST ) {
		return $query_args;
	}
	
	// process if specific view
	if ( !is_admin() && ( isset($view_settings['view_id']) && $view_settings['view_id'] == 1234) ) {
		if( !empty($query_args['meta_query']) ) {
			for ($i=0; $i < (count($query_args['meta_query'])-1) ; $i++) { 
				if ( $query_args['meta_query'][$i]['key'] == 'wpcf-reference' ) {
					$query_args['meta_query'][$i]['value'] = str_replace(' ', '', $query_args['meta_query'][$i]['value']);
				}
			}
		}
	}
	return $query_args;
}

I hope this helps.

regards,
Waqar

[zoeS]

My issue is resolved now. Thank you!