form making php question mysql problem

[matt121400]

ok so i am making a form and i need 1 text box from a form to produce 2 seperate entries into the mysql for example when someone picks a state from a drop down menu i would like it to send New York and NY as seperate fields in mysql how would i go about this? i was thinking hidden fields possibly but i am new at this so i am not quite sure how to go about it.

[NogDog]

Since state abbreviations tend not to change, I'd recommend you create a separate DB table with state abbreviation and state name as the two columns. Then you only need to store the abbreviation in associated tables, and if you ever need the full state name then obtain it from the above state table either as a query table join or a separate query.

[mikell]

I would do it NogDog's way, but if for whatever reason you need to do it your way, you could create an array with the abbreviation/name values and use that when updating/inserting. So basically your form would submit only the abbreviations, and you would get the state name for that abbreviation from an array.

for example:

//state abbr / state name array
$states = array('AL' => 'Alabama', 'AK' => 'ALASKA', ...etc);

//get state abbr from form
$state_abbr = $_GET['state_abbr'];

//get state name for $state_abbr
$state_name = $states[$state_abbr];

$sql = "insert into table (...etc, state_name, state_abbr, ..etc) values (...etc, $state_name, $state_abbr, ..etc)";