Saving Form Values From Dropdown List

[Anon]

Hi,

I have a form that I set up with built-in error checking, and it saves the values that were input so they don't have to be typed in again. However, in the form I have a dropdown list. If there are any missing fields, the dropdown list selection is not saved and has to be selected again. How do I code it to save the dropdown list selection?

<?
$form_block = "
<FORM METHOD=\"post\" ACTION=\"$PHP_SELF\">
Name:<BR>
<input type=\"text\" name=\"sender_name\" value=\"$sender_name\" size=22>
<p>Street Address:<br>
<input type=\"text\" name=\"street_address\" value=\"$street_address\" size=22>
<p>City:<br>
<input type=\"text\" name=\"city\" value=\"$city\" size=22>
<p>State:<br>
<input type=\"text\" name=\"state\" value=\"$state\" size=22>
<p>Zipcode:<br>
<input type=\"text\" name=\"zip\" value=\"$zip\" size=10>
<p>Country:<br>
<input type=\"text\" name=\"country\" value=\"$country\" size=22>
<p>
Your Email Address:<BR>
<INPUT TYPE=\"text\" NAME=\"sender_email\" value=\"$sender_email\" size=22>
<p>Geographical area of interest (if known):<BR>
<SELECT NAME=\"area\" value=\"$area\" SIZE=1>
<OPTION SELECTED>Select an area</OPTION>
<OPTION>Town1</OPTION>
<OPTION>Town2</OPTION>
<OPTION>Town3</OPTION>
<OPTION>Town4</OPTION>
<OPTION>Town5</OPTION>
<OPTION>Other</OPTION>
</SELECT>
</p>
<INPUT type=\"hidden\" name=\"op\" value=\"ds\">
<INPUT NAME=\"submit\" TYPE=\"submit\" VALUE=\"Send Now!\">&nbsp;
<input type=\"reset\" value=\"Clear Form\" name=\"Reset\"><p>
</FORM>
";

if ($op != "ds") {
// they need to see the form
echo "$form_block";

} else if ($op == "ds") {

 if ($sender_name == "") {
      $name_err = "<font COLOR=red>Please enter your name</FONT><br>";
      $send = "no";
 }

 if ($sender_email == "") {
      $email_err = "<FONT COLOR=Red>Please enter your e-mail address</FONT><br>";
      $send = "no";
 }

 if ($street_address == "") {
      $street_err = "<FONT COLOR=Red>Please enter your street address</font><br>";
      $send = "no";
 }

 if ($city == "") {
      $city_err = "<FONT COLOR=Red>Please enter your city</font><br>";
      $send = "no";
 }

 if ($state == "") {
      $state_err = "<FONT COLOR=Red>Please enter your state</font><br>";
  $send = "no";
 }

 if ($zip == "") {
      $zip_err = "<FONT COLOR=Red>Please enter your zip code</font><br>";
      $send = "no";
 }

 if ($country == "") {
      $country_err = "<FONT COLOR=Red>Please enter your country</font><br>";
      $send = "no";
 }

 if ($send != "no") {

      // it's ok to send!
      $msg = "PACKAGE REQUEST\n\n";
      $msg .= "Sender's E-Mail:   $sender_email\n\n";
      $msg .= "Sender's Name:     $sender_name\n";
      $msg .= "Street Address:    $street_address\n";
      $msg .= "City:              $city\n";
      $msg .= "State:             $state\n";
      $msg .= "Zipcode:           $zip\n";
      $msg .= "Country:           $country\n\n";
      $msg .= "Area of Interest:  $area\n\n";

      $to = "[e-mail]";
      $subject = "Package Request";
      $mailheaders = "From: Website <> \n";
      $mailheaders .= "Reply-To: $sender_email\n\n";

      mail($to, $subject, $msg, $mailheaders);
      echo "<P><FONT COLOR=Red><STRONG>Thank you! Your Package request has been sent.</STRONG></font></P>";

 } else if ($send == "no") {

      echo "$name_err";
      echo "$email_err";
      echo "$street_err";
      echo "$city_err";
      echo "$state_err";
      echo "$zip_err";
      echo "$country_err";
      echo "$form_block";

 }

}
?>

[Anon]

You will need to split your form block up a bit
but try this:
<SELECT NAME="area" SIZE=1>
<OPTION value="ZZ" <? if(($area == "ZZ") || (!isset($area))) print "selected"; ?>>Select an area</OPTION>
<OPTION value="Town1" <? if($area == "Town1") print "selected"; ?>>Town1</OPTION>
<OPTION value="Town2" <? if($area == "Town2") print "selected"; ?>>Town2</OPTION>
<OPTION value="Town3" <? if($area == "Town3") print "selected"; ?>>Town3</OPTION>
<OPTION value="Town4" <? if($area == "Town4") print "selected"; ?>>Town4</OPTION>
<OPTION value="Town5" <? if($area == "Town5") print "selected"; ?>>Town5</OPTION>
<OPTION value="Other" <? if($area == "Other") print "selected"; ?>>Other</OPTION>
</SELECT>

[Anon]

Thanks, Louie. So far, I haven't gotten this to run with the script I've got set up, ... the one that I included. That script is an "all in one" solution that includes validation and custom error messages right in the web page and doesn't run an outside script for form processing. I'm trying a few different variations to see if I can get yours to work.

[Anon]

If you want an item in a dropdown box to become "selected"
you have to add the word "selected" to the html code for that item:

<select name=mybox>
<option value=1>First item</option>
<option value=2>Second item</option>
<option value=3 selected>Thrid Item</option>
<option value=4>Fourth option</option>
</select>

In this example, option three will appear to be selected.

[Anon]

If you read her question she wants to have the option they selected stay selected even if there is an error with the form and the form read loads itself, all the text fields refill the values that the user typed in except for the drop down list. Sue there are other options for doing this but I figured to modify your existing code would be the easiest, Make sure that you chop your echo statement up(the one that holds the huge form, then close the php off right before the select box and use the code I provided then after the select box start the echo again like so:
<?
echo "your form stuff";
?>
my select code
<?
echo "ther rest of your form stuff";
?

[Anon]

Yikes, this is getting more confusing by the minute! Thanks for your reply, I'm sure you know exactly how to do this, and I sure appreciate your input. But being the newbie that I am, I have a lot of questions. First of all, what happens if I break up my form block? Don't know how to end and start it again. Second of all, my echo only says:

echo "$form_block";

The other echo statements are for the error checking. The echo doesn't start until after the form is built with PHP and HTML mixed. Is this a mistake, to build a form this way?

I don't want you to have to do the thing for me, that's counterproductive for me, I just want to understand!

[Anon]

Yeah the sample you show is not the most effective way of achieving this, you probably want to just write it yourself. Read up on the php and try writing it yourself, or else let me know how urgent this is, and I could probably whip something up for you later today.

[Anon]

Sorry I just read the whole post. I would not store the form in a varibale instead I would just echo or print each line out then use the code I supplied in place of the select box

[Anon]

Louie,

You should know by now that simply re-printing the form does NOT keep the item selected. It will default back to the first value.

If you want to make something appear selected, you must force that by adding "selected" to the html for that item.

[Anon]

Vincent if you saw my code it does exaclty that, it checks to see if the variable has not been set yet, if this is the case it prints selected in the frist option or else it checks to see if the avriable is equal to any of the options if so, it prints selected in the corresponding option, not sure where you got that I said you can just reprint the form and presto it remembers the last option selected, could you show me exactly where I wrote that?

[Anon]

Dang..

My apologies Louie, I must have gotten seriously confused here...

Your code should work a treat!

[Anon]

No sweat!