[Resolved] Passing a drop-down variable to another page...

lukatchikm

I am dynamically populating a drop-down selection box, which holds names of employees. A department administrator will select an employee to update, and click submit. Another page, generate_profile.php , will search for that employee in the database, and display their profile information in editing fields...

Herein STILL lies the problem, which I've been steadily working with: The menu gathers the correct types of employees, I can select one, and click Submit. When generate_profile.php is called, it is not grabbing the information for the employee (from the database) to be edited...

On the page that is generating the drop-down menu, my code is as follows:

 <?php  

$conn = @mysql_connect("localhost","michael","pass")  

or die("Could not connect to MySQL!" .mysql_error());  

$rs = @mysql_select_db("county_directory",$conn)   

or die("Could not select database!" .mysql_error());  

// Department is a session variable 

$sql = "(SELECT id,f_name,l_name from employee_info where dept='$department' )";  

$rs = mysql_query($sql,$conn)   

or die("Could not execute query!" .mysql_error());   

while ($row= mysql_fetch_array($rs))  

{   

$id = $row['id'];  

$f_name = $row['f_name'];   

$l_name = $row['l_name'];  

$options .= "<option value='$id'>".$f_name." ".$l_name;

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As you can see, id, f_name, and l_name are all used to generate this dynamic drop-down menu. Right below this script, I have a form, which allows the user to actually SELECT an option from that menu...

<form action='generate_profile.php' method='post' name='form1'>
<SELECT name='choice'>
<OPTION value = '0'>Select an Employee</OPTION>

 <?=$options?>

</SELECT>
<input type='submit' name='submit' value='Submit'>
</form>

When generate_profile.php is called, the employee choice should be extracted from the database, and their profile should be displayed on the screen in editing boxes...Code is as follows...

 <? 

// Populates fields for updating 
foreach($HTTP_POST_VARS as $varname => $value) 
$formVars[$varname]=$value; 

$db1=mysql_connect("localhost","michael","xcrunner"); 
mysql_select_db("COUNTY_DIRECTORY"); 
$result= mysql_query("SELECT * FROM EMPLOYEE_INFO WHERE id = '" . $_POST['choice'] . "' "); 
$row=mysql_fetch_array($result); 
  $formVars = array(); 
  $formVars["id"]=$row["id"]; 
  $formVars["f_name"]=$row["f_name"]; 
  $formVars["l_name"]=$row["l_name"]; 
  $formVars["dept"]=$row["dept"]; 
  $formVars["title"]=$row["title"]; 
  $formVars["phone"]=$row["phone"]; 
  $formVars["ext"]=$row["ext"]; 
  $formVars["fax"]=$row["fax"]; 
  $formVars["email"]=$row["email"]; 

?>

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the query suggests, it will look for the employee that matches 'choice', the selection previously chosen from the drop-down menu. When I format the output, I'm simply putting each item into a table row, similar to this:

<b>First Name:</b>
<input type="text" name="id"
value="

<? echo $formVars["id"]; ?>

" size=4>

The problem still is as it was before: I am not able to extract the employee profile from the database (based) on what the user has selected from the drop-down menu on the previous page...If anyone can help me, I would be very greatful.

Thank you all in advance, Mike

lukatchikm

Is it safe to assume that since 'id' (in my table setup) only holds an integer value, the value of 'choice' will never match it?

After all, $_POST['choice'] contains the value of a name in the form of First Last.

Or can I say something like this:

select * from EMPLOYEE_INFO where id = $id ???

I don't know about this one...I'm having trouble grabbing those profiles, even when the pseudo-syntax of:

select * from EMPLOYEE_INFO where id = $_POST['choice']

sounds correct....How can I accomplish this?

TIA, Mike

TheDefender

Well, $_POST['choice'] shold contain the value of $id = $row['id']; according to the code you posted...

I do have a couple of questions for you though Mike...

First, why, in one instance, are you referring to the variables in the POST array with $_POST and in another instance, you are referring to those variables with $HTTP_POST_VARS (which is deprecated anyhow)?

Secondly, why (since you are expecting only one row returned anyhow), are you taking the variables from the $row array and placing them into an array called $formVars? Also, instead of mysql_fetch_array(), you could use mysql_fetch_row()for that anyhow.

lukatchikm

I have been struggling with the code since the AM today, and I am still trying to figure some things out...

Basically, whats supposed to happen is this:

When an employee is selected, the generate_profile.php script will search the database for that record, place the record values into their respective fields, and allow the user to edit them...

I will be working on a 'verify_update' page pretty soon, but I must overcome this problem first. I will continue to look at things, and I will post should I need any further help.

Thanks, Mike