WP_Query::parse_search( array $query_vars ): string

Compatibility

Present in every tracked release (6.7.7 to 7.1.0), and compiles on PHP 7.4 through 8.6-dev.

Parameters

$query_varsarray

Query variables.

Return value

string

WHERE clause.

Performance profile

How much work a call to WP_Query::parse_search() does, and what it touches: the algorithmic scaling, the Zend instruction count per call across PHP versions, the hooks it hands control to, and the core code that calls it. Measured from the compiled opcodes, not a stopwatch, so every number is identical on any machine running the same PHP version, and every function in core is ranked by cost.

Cost class

Light

Touches nothing outside its own arguments.

Scaling

Scales with input

The body loops, so the work grows with what you pass in.

Instructions

68–110

Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 205.

Plugin surface

2 hooks

Third-party callbacks on 'post_search_columns', 'wp_query_search_exclusion_prefix' run inside this call, and their cost is not bounded by anything here.

Called by

1

1 place in core call this, so the cost is paid more often than your own code shows.

What it touches

• hookthird-party callbacksapply_filters()called directly
• regexregular expression over the whole inputpreg_match_all()called directly

Further down the call graph this can also reach query. That is the worst case, several calls deep and usually down an error path, not what a normal call pays.

What one call costs · 10 distinct outcomes

One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost WP_Query::parse_search() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.

This body has more branch combinations than are worth enumerating, so the table covers the outcomes found first rather than every one that exists.

Hooks and filters fired · 2

2 hooks fire while WP_Query::parse_search() runs, in this order:

1. 1
   apply_filters( post_search_columns )filterline 1473 (+50 into the body)

   Filters the columns to search in a WP_Query search.

2. 2
   apply_filters( wp_query_search_exclusion_prefix )filterline 1489 (+66 into the body)

   Filters the prefix that indicates that a search term should be excluded from results.

Uses · 5

• apply_filters()Calls the callback functions that have been added to a filter hook.
• str_starts_with()Polyfill for `str_starts_with()` function added in PHP 8.0.
• is_user_logged_in()Determines whether the current visitor is a logged in user.
• WP_Query::is_main_query()Determines whether the query is the main query.
• WP_Query::parse_search_terms()Checks if the terms are suitable for searching.

Used by · 1

• WP_Query::get_posts()Retrieves an array of posts based on query variables.

Source code

View on Trac ↗View on GitHub ↗

1423	protected function parse_search( &$query_vars ) {1424		global $wpdb;1425 1426		$search = '';1427 1428		// Added slashes screw with quote grouping when done early, so done later.1429		$query_vars['s'] = stripslashes( $query_vars['s'] );1430		if ( empty( $_GET['s'] ) && $this->is_main_query() ) {1431			$query_vars['s'] = urldecode( $query_vars['s'] );1432		}1433		// There are no line breaks in <input /> fields.1434		$query_vars['s']                  = str_replace( array( "\r", "\n" ), '', $query_vars['s'] );1435		$query_vars['search_terms_count'] = 1;1436		if ( ! empty( $query_vars['sentence'] ) ) {1437			$query_vars['search_terms'] = array( $query_vars['s'] );1438		} else {1439			if ( preg_match_all( '/".*?("|$)|((?<=[\t ",+])|^)[^\t ",+]+/', $query_vars['s'], $matches ) ) {1440				$query_vars['search_terms_count'] = count( $matches[0] );1441				$query_vars['search_terms']       = $this->parse_search_terms( $matches[0] );1442				// If the search string has only short terms or stopwords, or is 10+ terms long, match it as sentence.1443				if ( empty( $query_vars['search_terms'] ) || count( $query_vars['search_terms'] ) > 9 ) {1444					$query_vars['search_terms'] = array( $query_vars['s'] );1445				}1446			} else {1447				$query_vars['search_terms'] = array( $query_vars['s'] );1448			}1449		}1450 1451		$n                                  = ! empty( $query_vars['exact'] ) ? '' : '%';1452		$searchand                          = '';1453		$query_vars['search_orderby_title'] = array();1454 1455		$default_search_columns = array( 'post_title', 'post_excerpt', 'post_content' );1456		$search_columns         = ! empty( $query_vars['search_columns'] ) ? $query_vars['search_columns'] : $default_search_columns;1457		if ( ! is_array( $search_columns ) ) {1458			$search_columns = array( $search_columns );1459		}1460 1461		/**1462		 * Filters the columns to search in a WP_Query search.1463		 *1464		 * The supported columns are `post_title`, `post_excerpt` and `post_content`.1465		 * They are all included by default.1466		 *1467		 * @since 6.2.01468		 *1469		 * @param string[] $search_columns Array of column names to be searched.1470		 * @param string   $search         Text being searched.1471		 * @param WP_Query $query          The current WP_Query instance.1472		 */1473		$search_columns = (array) apply_filters( 'post_search_columns', $search_columns, $query_vars['s'], $this );1474 1475		// Use only supported search columns.1476		$search_columns = array_intersect( $search_columns, $default_search_columns );1477		if ( empty( $search_columns ) ) {1478			$search_columns = $default_search_columns;1479		}1480 1481		/**1482		 * Filters the prefix that indicates that a search term should be excluded from results.1483		 *1484		 * @since 4.7.01485		 *1486		 * @param string $exclusion_prefix The prefix. Default '-'. Returning1487		 *                                 an empty value disables exclusions.1488		 */1489		$exclusion_prefix = apply_filters( 'wp_query_search_exclusion_prefix', '-' );1490 1491		foreach ( $query_vars['search_terms'] as $term ) {1492			// If there is an $exclusion_prefix, terms prefixed with it should be excluded.1493			$exclude = $exclusion_prefix && str_starts_with( $term, $exclusion_prefix );1494			if ( $exclude ) {1495				$like_op  = 'NOT LIKE';1496				$andor_op = 'AND';1497				$term     = substr( $term, 1 );1498			} else {1499				$like_op  = 'LIKE';1500				$andor_op = 'OR';1501			}1502

Changelog

Introduced in 3.7.0. 2 changes between 6.7.7 and 7.1.0.

1. 6.7.7
2. 6.8.8
3. 6.9.7
4. 7.0.4
5. 7.1.0

Signature, return type and hooks compared across 5 parsed releases.

About this page

Parsed data

Generated from the wordpress-develop 6.9.7 tag, from src/wp-includes/class-wp-query.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it.

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