Problem with Drop Down Listboxes

klycette

I've created a page where users can alter the details of their account and have been able to fill in the fields so the user can see the current information. The only part that I'm having a problem with is the drop-down list. I've accessed the database and I'm trying to set the drop down item to match what's in the database. Here's what I have:

This same technique works everywhere else (except that I call it value= instead of title=, but when I try to use it this time, the listbox stays on the default option. What am I missing? I can post the rest, but the listbox is pretty standard.

scuk

I assume you are taking a list of provinces from a database and generating your drop down list from the result - let's call it $result. Maybe you could try generatig your list like this...

<select name="province">
  <?php

 while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)) {
  ?>
     <option value="<?=$row['province']?>" ><?=$row['province']?></option>
  <?php
     }
  ?>
  </select>

If the users province was stored in a variable called $users_province you could then test on each itteration of your loop and if it matches the province in your 'provinces' table you could insert SELECTED on that option. The resulting code would look like this - I've used a ternary operator to save space

<select name="province">
  <?php

 while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)) {
  ?>
     <option value="<?=$row['province']?>" <?=($row['province'] == $users_province) ? "SELECTED" :""?>><?=$row['province']?></option>
  <?php
     }
  ?>
  </select>

Hope this helps

klycette

Actually, my province drop down list is populated in html, like this:

<select name="province" id="province">
<option>Select A Province</option>
<option value="AB">Alberta</option>
<option value="BC">British Columbia</option>
<option value="MB">Manitoba</option>
<option value="NB">New Brunswick</option>
<option value="NL">Newfoundland & Labrador</option>
<option value="NT">Northwest Territories</option>
<option value="NS">Nova Scotia</option>
<option value="NU">Nunavut</option>
<option value="ON">Ontario</option>
<option value="PEI">Prince Edward Island</option>
<option value="PQ">Quebec</option>
<option value="SK">Saskatchewan</option>
<option value="YT">Yukon Territory</option>
</select>

I had this working before, but now for some reason, the correct province isn't getting selected...it's just the default "Select A Province"

planetsim

Maybe you should think about putting all the provinces into a table make coding a lot easier anyway..


<select name="province" id="province"> 
<option>Select A Province</option> 
<option value="AB" <?php if($row['province'] == "AB"): echo "selected"; ?>)?>>Alberta</option> 
<option value="BC" <?php if($row['province'] == "BC"): echo "selected"; ?>>British Columbia</option> 
<option value="MB" <?php if($row['province'] == "MB"): echo "selected"; ?>>Manitoba</option> 
<option value="NB" <?php if($row['province'] == "NB"): echo "selected"; ?>>New Brunswick</option> 
<option value="NL" <?php if($row['province'] == "NL"): echo "selected"; ?>>Newfoundland & Labrador</option> 
<option value="NT" <?php if($row['province'] == "NT"): echo "selected"; ?>>Northwest Territories</option> 
<option value="NS" <?php if($row['province'] == "NS"): echo "selected"; ?>>Nova Scotia</option> 
<option value="NU" <?php if($row['province'] == "NU"): echo "selected"; ?>>Nunavut</option> 
<option value="ON" <?php if($row['province'] == "ON"): echo "selected"; ?>>Ontario</option> 
<option value="PEI" <?php if($row['province'] == "PEI"): echo "selected"; ?>>Prince Edward Island</option> 
<option value="PQ" <?php if($row['province'] == "PQ"): echo "selected"; ?>>Quebec</option> 
<option value="SK" <?php if($row['province'] == "SK"): echo "selected"; ?>>Saskatchewan</option> 
<option value="YT" <?php if($row['province'] == "YT"): echo "selected"; ?>>Yukon Territory</option> 
</select>

klycette

I could look into that as a last resort, but I know that this should work, as I've done it before. I'm just trying to figure out what I'm missing. Any ideas?

yuraupt

Hi klycette,

planetsim provivded you as full answers as possible. It's only the way you can show up the currently selected option.

I just can suggest you to store the list of the provinces in the database or in a config file in an array. Espacialy if you use the drop down list of provinces on more than one page - probably you (would) have a search form for the user or whatever. Then consider the fisr answer of our helpful guy nicknamed planetsim:p

klycette

I hope I didn't sound like an ass....

I'm was just asking again because it's something that I did in the past using Dreamweaver to bind the drop-down to the province field...and it worked without putting the provinces into a table. That's why I'm looking into this option....thanks for all your help

yuraupt

klycette,

probably Dreamweaver automated this process for you somehow, generating a page with prevoiusly selected option.

But, I tell you, there is only one way to show a select box with some specific option to be selected. And the way is to have "selected" attribute for the option.

planetsim showed you how to set the "selected" property using php.

Anyway, if you find any other way, then let us know.