drop down selection not being preserved

philosophia

this code

      <tr bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> 
        <td colspan="3" height="40"><b><font color="#330066">Ethnicity (optional 
          - to be answered by U.S. citizens)</font></b><br>
          &nbsp;&nbsp; 
          <? 
switch($ethnicity)
{
  case "African American, not of Hispanic origin":
 $ethnicityvalue="African American, not of Hispanic origin";
 break;
  case "Hispanic, not Puerto Rican or Mexican":
 $ethnicityvalue="Hispanic, not Puerto Rican or Mexican";
 break;
  case "Native American/Alaskan Native":
 $ethnicityvalue="Native American/Alaskan Native";
 break;
  case "Mexican American":
 $ethnicityvalue="Mexican American";
 break;
  case "Asian American/Pacific Islander":
 $ethnicityvalue="Asian American/Pacific Islander";
 break;
  case "Puerto Rican":
 $ethnicityvalue="Puerto Rican";
 break;
  case "Caucasian/White, not of Hispanic Origin":
 $ethnicityvalue="Caucasian/White, not of Hispanic Origin";
 break;
 }
?>
          <div align="center"> 
            <select name="ethnicity" size="1">
              <option value=<? echo $ethnicity; ?> SELECTED> 
              <? echo $ethnicityvalue; ?>
              </option>
              <option value=""></option>
              <option value="African American, not of Hispanic origin">African 
              American, not of Hispanic origin</option>
              <option value="Hispanic, not Puerto Rican or Mexican">Hispanic, 
              not Puerto Rican or Mexican</option>
              <option value="Native American/Alaskan Native">Native American/Alaskan 
              Native</option>
              <option value="Mexican American">Mexican American</option>
              <option value="Asian American/Pacific Islander">Asian American/Pacific 
              Islander</option>
              <option value="Puerto Rican">Puerto Rican</option>
              <option value="Caucasian/White, not of Hispanic Origin">Caucasian/White, not of Hispanic Origin</option>
            </select>
          </div>
       </td>

pulls the value for $ethnicity from a mysql db. the data type for this field is varchar 50. it assigns another field $ethnicityvalue, the current value of $ethnicity. the user should be able to come to this page, see his previous answer to this question pre-selected in the drop down menu. the user should be able to change his answer, and resubmit the page, go to the page again and see his new answer preselected. there are other values on the same page he can change and resubmit in the same way.

this code is not working correctly. i can submit it for the first time or change the selection, then submit and it works fine - when i come back to the page, the previous answer is preselected in the drop down box.

but - when i leave this selection alone, and instead change answers to another field on the same page, then resubmit, my answer to this particular drop down box is lost. nothing is preselected. when i check the db, instead of

Caucasian/White, not of Hispanic Origin

being in the database, it reads just

Caucasian/White,

-i'm probably missing something really elementary. any suggestions on how to fix?

thanks
philosophia

nightmaredns

well for one thing, it doesn't like spaces, that's why it's showing up as just caucasian/white.

Try instead:

option value = "C/W_nho" or some kind of abbreviation that doesn't include spaces.

vallette

I'd do things differently but if I were following you're general method I'd do the following:

      <tr bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> 
        <td colspan="3" height="40"><b><font color="#330066">Ethnicity (optional 
          - to be answered by U.S. citizens)</font></b><br>
          &nbsp;&nbsp; 
          <? 
switch($ethnicity)
{
  case "African American, not of Hispanic origin":
 $selected[0]=" SELECTED";
 break;
  case "Hispanic, not Puerto Rican or Mexican":
 $selected[1]=" SELECTED";
 break;
  case "Native American/Alaskan Native":
 $selected[2]=" SELECTED";
 break;
  case "Mexican American":
 $selected[3]=" SELECTED";
 break;
  case "Asian American/Pacific Islander":
 $selected[4]=" SELECTED";
 break;
  case "Puerto Rican":
 $selected[5]=" SELECTED";
 break;
  case "Caucasian/White, not of Hispanic Origin":
 $selected[6]=" SELECTED";
 break;
 }
?>
          <div align="center"> 
            <select name="ethnicity" size="1">
              <option value=""></option>
              <option value="African American, not of Hispanic origin"<? echo $selected[0]; ?>>African 
              American, not of Hispanic origin</option>
              <option value="Hispanic, not Puerto Rican or Mexican"<? echo $selected[1]; ?>>Hispanic, 
              not Puerto Rican or Mexican</option>
              <option value="Native American/Alaskan Native"<? echo $selected[2]; ?>>Native American/Alaskan 
              Native</option>
              <option value="Mexican American"<? echo $selected[3]; ?>>Mexican American</option>
              <option value="Asian American/Pacific Islander"<? echo $selected[4]; ?>>Asian American/Pacific 
              Islander</option>
              <option value="Puerto Rican"<? echo $selected[5]; ?>>Puerto Rican</option>
              <option value="Caucasian/White, not of Hispanic Origin"<? echo $selected[6]; ?>>Caucasian/White, not of Hispanic Origin</option>
            </select>
          </div>
       </td>

This cleans things up a bit and the same selection won't appear twice in your drop down.

philosophia

both are great solutions.

thanks guys