creating a form that will read switch/case

phpVent

Hi,

I've been working on developing a site of mine for a while and finally got down to building a form.

http://whodateswhere.com/auto/index.php is what I am talking about.
I'm trying to have a list of all makes and models of cars show up in the list.

I have the file with all makes/models in the format like this

		case "Acura":
            echo json_encode(array("MDX","RDX","RL","TL","TSX","ZDX")); 
			return;

	case "Audi":
        echo json_encode(array("A3","A4","A5","A6","A8","Q5","Q7","R8","S4","S5","S6","TT","TTS")); 
    	return;

I have the switch command at the top but I'm not sure any of it is correct.

In my index.php I have a jquery script like this

<script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">
$('#ajax_make_id').change(function(){
    $.get('model.php',{ make: $(this).html() }, function(data){
        $drop_down_data = get_options( $.parseJSON(data) ); 
        $('#ajax_model_id').html( options ); 
    }); 
}); 

function get_options( options_array )
{
    var options = ''; 
    for( var i in options_array )
         options += '<option value="'+ options_array[i] +'">' 
                    + options_array[i] +'</option>'; 
    return options; 
}
</script>

and my form is set up like this

<form>
      		<div class="landing_quote_left">
      			<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="8" border="0">
      				<tr>
<td>
      						<label for="ajax_make_id" class="landing_quote_label">Make:</label>
      					</td>
      					<td>
      						<span id="ajax_make_select"><select name="2f_make_id" id="ajax_make_id" style="width: 170px;" onchange=""><option value="999">Select a Make</option></select></span>

          			</td>
  				</tr>
<tr>
      					<td>
      						<label for="ajax_model_id" class="landing_quote_label">Model:</label>
      					</td>
      					<td>
      						<span id="ajax_model_select"><select name="2f_model_id" id="ajax_model_id" style="width: 170px;" onchange=""><option value="999">Select a Model</option></select></span>

              		</td>
  				</tr>

  			</table>
    	</div>
    </form>

I just know none of this is correct though.

I'd really appreciate the help if you guys can help me get this solved. I've literally spent 20-30 hours or more on this single form 🙁

bradgrafelman

One problem I notice is in your Ajax code:

$('#ajax_model_id').html( options );

options is undefined (hint: that's not the name of the variable you created on the previous line).

phpVent

First of all, hi, thanks for such a quick a response. It truly means a lot that someone would help me.

oh, I thought options was a part of the script.

I've tried asking for some help on stack overflow and they wrote that ajax script. I had the switch php file built before my form was ready to go. That took 20 hours or so just to get all the data(every make and model).

<?php
    switch($_GET["make"]) {
		case "Acura":
            echo json_encode(array("MDX","RDX","RL","TL","TSX","ZDX")); 
			return;

So this would be appropriate for the opening of my models.php file?

I'm still a little confused as what to do with "options"

p.s. hopefully I'll fully understand php within the next few months to a year so I can help others 🙂

phpVent

There is no edit button from what I can tell but I wanted to add that I was told that

    switch($_GET["make"]) {

was the best thing to add.

bradgrafelman

phpVent;10989487 wrote:
oh, I thought options was a part of the script.

Nope... nowhere in here:

$('#ajax_make_id').change(function(){
    $.get('model.php',{ make: $(this).html() }, function(data){
        $drop_down_data = get_options( $.parseJSON(data) ); 
        $('#ajax_model_id').html( options ); 
    }); 
});

do you define a variable called 'options'. You do, however, define a different variable named $drop_down_data.

phpVent;10989487 wrote:
I've tried asking for some help on stack overflow and they wrote that ajax script.

Sounds like no one ever helped you then (I don't consider spoonfeeding someone code helping 😉).

phpVent;10989487 wrote:
I had the switch php file built before my form was ready to go. That took 20 hours or so just to get all the data(every make and model).

Really? Seems like you could just download that information from someplace (though I suppose you might have to pay a small(?) fee for the convenience).

phpVent;10989487 wrote:
<?php
    switch($_GET["make"]) {
		case "Acura":
            echo json_encode(array("MDX","RDX","RL","TL","TSX","ZDX")); 
			return;
So this would be appropriate for the opening of my models.php file?

Sure, depending upon what you mean by "appropriate" (e.g. you'll generate E_NOTICE level errors if $_GET['make'] isn't defined, hence why I always use [man]isset/man before accessing external data).

phpVent;10989487 wrote:
I'm still a little confused as what to do with "options"

Get rid of it (since it doesn't exist) and use the correct variable name.

phpVent;10989487 wrote:
p.s. hopefully I'll fully understand php within the next few months to a year so I can help others 🙂

Great... but note that your problem (from what I can see) has nothing to do with PHP.

phpVent;10989488 wrote:
I wanted to add that I was told that
    switch($_GET["make"]) {
was the best thing to add.

Again, I never said the problem related to your PHP code at all... although I would wonder what the person(s) meant by "best thing" (which, to me, is just a meaningless opinion). For example, since each case in the switch structure literally does only one thing, I would say using a switch is less efficient than a long if/elseif/elseif/... chain (since you'd save yourself some typing that way).

bradgrafelman

Also, here's a cleaned-up (and fixed-up) version of the jQuery code you're using:

$('#ajax_make_id').change(function(){
    $.getJSON('model.php', {make: $(this).val()}, function(data){
        var $drop_down_data = get_options(data);
        $(this).html($drop_down_data);
    });
});

Notice there were many things changed... feel free to ask about any of the changes I made (which are untested, by the way - no guarantee it'll fix all of your problems or even work at all) and I'd be glad to explain them.

phpVent

You sir, are f***ing awesome.
Thanks for taking the time to reply back and help me.

bradgrafelman;10989490 wrote:
Nope... nowhere in here:
$('#ajax_make_id').change(function(){
    $.get('model.php',{ make: $(this).html() }, function(data){
        $drop_down_data = get_options( $.parseJSON(data) ); 
        $('#ajax_model_id').html( options ); 
    }); 
}); 
do you define a variable called 'options'. You do, however, define a different variable named $drop_down_data.

oh... I see
So, should I remove options from

$('#ajax_model_id').html( options );

and then where I want my forms to appear, you would write

<?php echo $drop_down_data ?>

bradgrafelman;10989490 wrote:
Sounds like no one ever helped you then (I don't consider spoonfeeding someone code helping 😉).

Haha, yeah. I was trying to figure how to make things work and they just provided a script. I want to know how things work, how to fit something in my page.
I'm not saying having someone create a script for you isn't nice, trust me, it's awesome, because I can actually see how something comes together but you don't learn as much that way.

bradgrafelman;10989490 wrote:
Really? Seems like you could just download that information from someplace (though I suppose you might have to pay a small(?) fee for the convenience).

Yeah, I considered purchasing a few databases but none had every model available. The full time wasn't only for getting make/model. I also gathered pricing, articles about each model, pictures, and whatever else I could get on each model.

bradgrafelman;10989490 wrote:
Sure, depending upon what you mean by "appropriate" (e.g. you'll generate E_NOTICE level errors if $_GET['make'] isn't defined, hence why I always use [man]isset/man before accessing external data).

Going to find out what isset means, brb

bradgrafelman;10989490 wrote:
Great... but note that your problem (from what I can see) has nothing to do with PHP.

oh....

bradgrafelman;10989490 wrote:
Again, I never said the problem related to your PHP code at all... although I would wonder what the person(s) meant by "best thing" (which, to me, is just a meaningless opinion). For example, since each case in the switch structure literally does only one thing, I would say using a switch is less efficient than a long if/elseif/elseif/... chain (since you'd save yourself some typing that way).

I think I might just need some sleep :/ , been working on this single form since Saturday. Woke up at 10AM and still trying to figure how to do it. Might just need to take a breather.

Thanks again, I'll be putting myself to work on this stuff within the next hour I guess and hopefully it might be functional by 6-7 AM my time.(12:44 currently)

bradgrafelman

Only comment I have for your latest reply is:

phpVent;10989496 wrote:
So, should I remove options from and then where I want my forms to appear, you would write
<?php echo $drop_down_data ?>

No, just replace 'options' with the correct variable name (again, that'd be $drop_down_data which you defined on the line just above it).

Note, however, that you seem to be confusing PHP and Javascript. The former is a server-side language while the latter is a client-side language, meaning they are executed on completely opposite ends of the spectrum.