Basic Strategy Help Needed

[mverrier]

Hi! Thanks in advance --

I have a page with list from a SQL database. I would like to have a button on the page that when you press the button, the page will do a new query with a different set of parameters. For example, if I have this list:

yellow
short
tall
purple
pink

Button: Show Colors

Click displays only
yellow
purple
pink

What is the basic strategy? First query and print the full list -- I got that, then what kind of button do I use and how do I get it to requery the page for optimal speed and results?

Happy New Year and Merci beaucoup!!! Monique.

[bpat1434]

Well... here's how I'd do it.

Make your db have the following columns:

id int(11) auto_increment indexed
item TEXT
category TEXT

Now, your page should have an if() else() statement to decide whether or not something has been submitted. The form you create gets submitted back to the parent page, and when it refreshes, it will have what you need.

Example:

<?php

if(!isset($_REQUEST['cat'])){
    $query = 'SELECT * FROM `table_name`';
    mysql_query($query);
    // Display your stuff here
}
else{
    $cat = $_REQUEST['cat'];

$query = 'SELECT * FROM `table_name` WHERE Category = '.$cat.' ORDER BY id ASC';
mysql_query($query);
// Display your Info, set a variable to echo....
}
?>
<!-- HTML Page -->

That's what I would do. And I would make my drop-down list dynamic meaning that I would make the selected value the current category they're looking at.

THose are just my ideas. Hope I helped a bit.

~Brett

[mverrier]

Thanks for your anwser.

So in my HTML, I have a defining the botton:

<form name="form1" method="post" action="">
<input name="Submit" type="submit" value="Cat">
</form>

What is the action? Do I call the same page? And is the variable $_REQUEST['cat'] coming from the value in the button?

Thanks in advance for your help. Monique.

[bpat1434]

In order to re-submit a form to the same page that it is on, don't add the action="" tag. Your form should look like:

<form name="form1" method="post">
<input name="Submit" type="submit" value="Cat">
</form>

Hope that helps.

~Brett

[mverrier]

Thanks a lot. You are the best. I WILL LEARN THIS STUFF!!! Affirmations make a difference.

Here's a story for you: I discovered that I need to be a great water polo player. I asked my nephew to ask Yoda (his toy that knows all) and Yoda confirmed it. So I got this visualization CD for water polo players. It has a relaxation section to get you in a trance-like state, then offers affirmations, such as "You practice with the white hot fervor of a champion". Well, I'm there, in a trance, and the disk starts skipping on "You, you, you, you, you practice with the white fervor of a champion" -- over and over and over. I don't know if it was more or less effective because of the skip, but last Wednesday night I had three people on top of me and I made a goal in spite of being held under and hit in the face. My one wish is that I discovered my need to be a water polo champion before my kids went to college.

Monique.