// (2) Check to see if malicious characters are entered
  if (!ereg("^[A-z0-9+. -]*[']?[A-z0-9+. -]*$",$test)) {
 //  (3) REMOVE SPACES AT THE BEGINNING AND END 
$error = "<div id='errors'>Invalid search term entered.</div>";
} else
 /// (1) Check for Minimum Character Length
 if(strlen($trimmed) < 3) {
$error = 'Not Enough Characters';
}else
if(empty($by))
{
 // check to see if a search type has been chosen
 $error = 'You Must Select A Search Type';
 
}else if(!ctype_digit($by) && (strlen($by)>1) )
{
//make sure $by is a number
$error = "Invalid Search Type";
}else
{
$Query81 = "SELECT * FROM albumlist WHERE $by RLIKE \"^$trimmed\"";
echo $Query81;
 $Result81 = mysql_query($Query81);
 $total = mysql_num_rows($Result81);
 }