database search libraries

[eluser]MaxPar[/eluser]
I've been looking around for a helper or plugin that can help with database search (and handling how the results are processed). I'm aware of CI's Active Record class in the Database library, but I'm still going to wind up writing some kind of SQL query. I'm aware that (good) database searching is more than just something like:

Code:

$mysqlquery = 'SELECT * FROM `mytable` WHERE `body` LIKE \'%MYSTRING%\' ';

and to that end, I'm wondering if anyone is aware of pre-existing libraries that can be used to help search for particular patterns in a database. CI plugins are best- but unless they are extremely hidden on the wiki, I just can't find them! PHP code would also be alright, but then it might be annoying to get it work with CI.