Please help - populating an update form with multiple select data

[grumpy]

I have an online form which allows a user to submit various information in various form fields. Some are multiple select fields (drop down boxes). The submitter can later login and sees an update form (basically the same form) with all the information they previously submitted populating the form. They then can change or update any of the information and re-submit the form which updates the database. My problem is: I can get all the previous submitted information to populate the update form EXCEPT I can't figure out how to populate the update form's select multiple fields (drop down boxes) with the previously selected multiple selections "highlighted", so they know what they previously had entered. How can I do this? Here is a portion of the code on the update form for one of the select fields which allows them to select one or more states. The whole form is within an echo command. Thanks so much!

<select name=state2[] size=4 multiple>
<option value=ALABAMA> Alabama <option value=ALASKA> Alaska <option value=ALBERTA> Alberta<option value=ARIZONA> Arizona <option value=ARKANSAS> Arkansas <option value=BRITISH COLUMBIA> British Columbia <option value=CALIFORNIA> California <option value=COLORADO> Colorado <option value=CONNECTICUT> Connecticut <option value=DELAWARE> Delaware <option value=DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA> District Of Columbia <option value=FLORIDA> Florida <option value=GEORGIA> Georgia <option value=GUAM> Guam <option value=HAWAII> Hawaii <option value=IDAHO> Idaho <option value=ILLINOIS> Illinois <option value=INDIANA> Indiana <option value=IOWA> Iowa <option value=KANSAS> Kansas <option value=KENTUCKY> Kentucky <option value=LOUISIANA> Louisiana <option value=MAINE> Maine <option value=MANITOBA> Manitoba <option value=MARYLAND> Maryland <option value=MASSACHUSETTS> Massachusetts <option value=MICHIGAN> Michigan <option value=MINNESOTA> Minnesota <option value=MISSISSIPPI> Mississippi <option value=MISSOURI> Missouri <option value=MONTANA> Montana <option value=NEBRASKA> Nebraska <option value=NEVADA> Nevada <option value=NEW BRUNSWICK> New Brunswick <option value=NEW HAMPSHIRE> New Hampshire <option value=NEW JERSEY> New Jersey <option value=NEW MEXICO> New Mexico <option value=NEW YORK> New York <option value=NEWFOUNDLAND> Newfoundland <option value=NORTH CAROLINA> North Carolina <option value=NORTH DAKOTA> North Dakota<option value=NORTHWEST TERRITORIES> Northwest Territories <option value=NOVA SCOTIA> Nova Scotia <option value=NUNAVUT> Nunavut <option value=OHIO> Ohio <option value=OKLAHOMA> Oklahoma <option value=ONTARIO> Ontario <option value=OREGON> Oregon <option value=PENNSYLVANIA> Pennsylvania <option value=PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND> Prince Edward Island <option value=QUEBEC> Province du Quebec <option value=PUERTO RICO> Puerto Rico <option value=RHODE ISLAND> Rhode Island <option value=SASKATCHEWAN> Saskatchewan <option value=SOUTH CAROLINA> South Carolina <option value=SOUTH DAKOTA> South Dakota <option value=TENNESSEE> Tennessee <option value=TEXAS> Texas <option value=UTAH> Utah <option value=VERMONT> Vermont <option value=VIRGIN ISLANDS> Virgin Islands <option value=VIRGINIA> Virginia <option value=WASHINGTON> Washington <option value=WEST VIRGINIA> West Virginia <option value=WISCONSIN> Wisconsin <option value=WYOMING> Wyoming <option value=YUKON TERRITORY> Yukon Territory

</select>

[packland]

the following code creates an select (drop down). note that only one item will match the
user_comboID from the last submit and this will be selected from the list retrieved from the database. NB: SELECTED is the key!!!

$query = "SELECT * FROM auth_users";
$result = mysql_query($query) or die("Couldn't create users list.");
while ($myrecord = mysql_fetch_array($result)) {
   $enum_userID = $myrecord['userID'];
   $enum_username = $myrecord['username'];
   $enum_userfname = $myrecord['f_name'];
   $enum_userlname = $myrecord['l_name'];

   if ($enum_userID == $userID_combo) {
      $option_block .= "<option value=\"".$enum_userID."\" selected>".$enum_userfname."  ".$enum_userlname." (".$enum_username.")</option><br>\n";
   }else{
      $option_block .= "<option value=\"".$enum_userID."\">".$enum_userfname."  ".$enum_userlname." (".$enum_username.")</option><br>\n";
   }
}

below is the corresponding html that

<FORM NAME="users" METHOD="post" action= <? print "$PHP_SELF"."?".SID; ?>>
<select name="userID_combo">
<? echo "$option_block"; ?>
</select>
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" NAME="delete_user" VALUE="Delete User">
</FORM>

need more info?