identify in which category user is in

[business +]

I am working to include menu bars on the left depending on the category customer is in. I am currently using the following code to evaluate the location. This works ok for now.

{if $categoryid=="15" || $section=="15" || $smarty.server.REQUEST_URI|substr:0:26=="/searchresults.php?type=15"}
{include file="cat15submenu.tpl"}
{/if}

But the third criteria I used to check in which category customer is during a search result may not work in some instances. If there is search text entered, the logic would not be correctly evaluated. I used {debug} to check if the category variable is available (when searched for a specific category), but it is not.

based on the search URL, is there a better way to check for the category.
or, can we make the category id available (where a specific category is selected) in the showlisting.tpl
thanks for any help

[seymourjames +]

I think the category ID is given by $smarty.get.type for the search results page. It was so in version 4.09 .

[business +]

thanks a lot. it is there.