使用php和mysql搜索一列中的多个字符串

Question

in my mysql table.there is a column like this.

     column_name
     apple
     ball
     cat
     daddy
     mom

I have two strings (cat and ball for example) So I need to get records that match cat and ball strings. I can get one using

   SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE column_name='cat' 

but how to get two records that match my two strings(I mean column_name='cat' and column_name='ball' ) please anyone help me

Answer 1

You can use an IN statement, which acts as an extended OR :

 SELECT * 
 FROM `table_name` 
 WHERE `column_name` IN ('cat', 'ball');

Answer 2

I guess you can use 'OR'

 SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE column_name='cat' OR column_name='ball'

For reference http://www.w3schools.com/sql/trysql.asp?filename=trysql_select_where_or