CS4-generated PHP/MySQL Statements

Question

I have constructed a simple 2 program GUI in CS4 using PHP and MySQL. Program A accepts XHTML form user input of two text fields, which are then passed to program B for subsequent MySQL retrieval and processing. I would appreciate a little clairification on the MySQL statement that CS4 generates in the recordset I built.
Here are the PHP statements that set the passed variables in Program B:
$colname1_Recordset1 = "";
if (isset($_POST['transaction_mfgr_importer'])) {
  $colname1_Recordset1 = $_POST['transaction_mfgr_importer'];
$colname2_Recordset1 = "";
if (isset($_POST['transaction_model'])) {
  $colname2_Recordset1 = $_POST['transaction_model'];
Here is the recordset generated based on that input:
mysql_select_db($database_DGRconnect_acquisition, $DGRconnect_acquisition);
$query_Recordset1 = sprintf("SELECT * FROM dgr_ad_vendor_acquisition WHERE dgr_ad_vendor_acquisition.transaction_mfgr_importer = %s AND dgr_ad_vendor_acquisition.transaction_model = %s", GetSQLValueString($colname1_Recordset1, "text"),GetSQLValueString($colname2_Recordset1, "text"));
$Recordset1 = mysql_query($query_Recordset1, $DGRconnect_acquisition) or die(mysql_error());
$row_Recordset1 = mysql_fetch_assoc($Recordset1);
$totalRows_Recordset1 = mysql_num_rows($Recordset1);
?>
I have highlighted in red the parts of the generated statement from which my questions arise. Basically, I'd like to know how the "%s" is generated to represent the two variables, and more importantly, how they are parsed so that they are differentiated in the statement. In other words, how does the engine keep track of which "%s" is which? I hope my first question isn't about as clear as mud!
Secondly, Is there any way I can manipulate the two of these variables to work in a "LIKE" operand, versus the "=" one?
$query_Recordset1 = sprintf("SELECT * FROM dgr_ad_vendor_acquisition WHERE dgr_ad_vendor_acquisition.transaction_mfgr_importer LIKE %s AND dgr_ad_vendor_acquisition.transaction_model LIKE %s", GetSQLValueString($colname1_Recordset1, "text"),GetSQLValueString($colname2_Recordset1, "text"));
I would prefer to alter my original statement to take advantage of the relative comparison function that the LIKE operand normally performs. I want the resultant rows retrieved by the SELECT to include anything similar to what the user inputed. Normally, the LIKE comparison requires a hard-coded string, eg. "WHERE dgr_ad_vendor_acquisition.transaction_mfgr_importer LIKE '%General Electric%'... ". I'm trying to figure out how to replace the "%s" variable representations with the contents of $colname1_Recordset1 and $colname2_Recordset1 respectively.
Thanks for your time, and any feedback would be greatly appreciated!    

Answer 1

Sorry about the Scotch whiskey teaser. I saw where a bottle of Bowmore 1850 auctioned for 29,000 English pounds. Sheesh!
As for the PHP imbedded in the SQL, I guess I had hoped that maybe since PHP and MySql seem to be kindred spirits as far as a database/programming platform goes, that maybe Apache/MySQL knew to evaluate the PHP statement within the MySQL statement and somehow convert it. As I said, I had my doubts and they were proven to be true.
In any event, I want to thank you again. Your solution is working swimmingly for me in several of my prototype applications. Much appreciated!