Sticky select issue

jinky32

Hi,

I'm having a problem with a sticky form i'm creating. the code is

<form action="<?php echo $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']?>" method="post">
	<p>Vegetable<select name="vegetable"> //start of veg drop down
		<?php
	$query="SELECT vegetable_pk, vegetable_type FROM vegetables"; //query db
	$result=mysqli_query($dbc, $query) or die("Query failed: " . mysqli_error($dbc));  //run query
		while($row=mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)){ //loop thu results

		if(isset($_POST['vegetable'])) {
			echo '<option  value="' . $_POST['vegetable'] . '" selected="selected">' . $_POST['vegetable'] . '</option>';
			} else {echo "<option  value=\"$row[vegetable_pk]\">$row[vegetable_type]</option>\n"; //echo out results
			}

	}

This sort of does the job, except that the value that is kept sticky and show to the user is vegetable_pk (the number), rather than vegetable_type (the name).

This makes sense since that is the value stored in $_POST['vegetable'], but how can I make it so that the corresponding name of the selection gets shown in the select? Any help would be great 🙂

coldwerturkey

you'll never get anywhere with that.

try using this in your while loop instead.

$s = (isset($_POST['vegetable']) && $_POST['vegetable'] == $row['vegetable_pk']) ? ' " selected="selected"': '';
echo "<option  value=\"$row[vegetable_pk]\"{$s}>$row[vegetable_type]</option>\n"; //echo out results

$s will be equivalent to selected="selected" when the $_POST['vegtable'] is set, and when it is equal to the current value in the loop, for every other case it will be blank.

jinky32

<rod_stewart_voice>Have i told you lately that I love you?!</rod_stewart_voice>

Thanks! Works perfectly; I would never have got there in a million years!

jinky32

HI - thanks again for this solution. As i mentioned above there's some syntax here that i haven't come across yet - for example the use of the ? using the : and using the variable within curly brackets {$s}.

can anyone explain this to me or point me in the direction of a guide to this syntax?

many thanks!

bradgrafelman

That syntax is referred to as the ternary operator - it's basically a way to condense an if/else statement into a one-liner.