[SOLVED] Help with selected item retention in select dropdown

[webref.eu]

Hi All

 

I want a dropdown that says "Please Select" in its in initial state, where a user can select a 0 to 10 rating, as per these screen prints: 

 

http://www.webref.eu/images/please-select.gif

 

http://www.webref.eu/images/please-select-0-to-10.gif

 

I am letting my form post back on itself.  The problem I am having is that if the user forgot to select a rating, I want the form to default back to "Please Select", but currently it is defaulting back to 0.  I know this is something to do with how the value from the dropdown (called ReviewRating) is collected and then compared in the code below: 

 

Collection of variable on postback: 

 

$ReviewRating=$_POST['ReviewRating'];

 

Code for ReviewRating dropdown as it stands, note  a $_POST['processform'] value of 1 means the form has been posted back: 

 

<select name="ReviewRating" id="ReviewRating">
  <?php


//If form being shown for the first time
  If($_POST['processform'] != 1) {
  echo "<option selected=\"selected\">Please Select</option>\n";
  }
  
  //loops 1 through 10, and when a postback adds the HTML attribute selected to the option tag, if the rating matches the number being printed
  for ($i = 0; $i <= 10; $i++) {
  
  //If a postback, check which Review Rating was selected
  If($_POST['processform'] == 1) {
    $selected = ($ReviewRating == $i) ? ' selected="selected"' : '';
    }

echo "<option$selected>$i</option>\n";
  }
  
  ?>  
  
  </select>

 

So the problem is that if "Please Select" was left in the select dropdown, then on postback this is being interpreted as a 0 in the code that sets the selected value of the dropdown, i.e. this line: 

 

$selected = ($ReviewRating == $i) ? ' selected="selected"' : '';

 

So how can I make it that if "Please Select" was left initially, it still displays on postback? 

 

Thanks All.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[webref.eu]

I guess this is some kind of variable type problem?  A string being compared to integer problem?

 

Rgds

[marcus]

Set the value of the Please Select to 0.

 

Then change this line

If($_POST['processform'] != 1) {

to

if(!$_POST['processform']) {

[akitchin]

one issue i see is that the Please Select option will never even be echoed into the select list if the form has been submitted.  give the Please Select option a specific integer value, rather than the "Please Select" it takes simply because it doesn't get a value.  this allows you to check against the value directly to see whether it should be selected:

 

if ($_POST['processform'] != 1 || $_POST['ReviewRating'] == 15)
{
 echo "<option value=\"15\" selected=\"selected\">Please Select</option>\n";
}

 

EDIT:  @mgall - he wants a 0 option, so it won't work to give the Please Select option a value of 0.

[webref.eu]

Thanks for the suggestions and in particular akitchin as your suggested method works well.  I decided to use a value of 11 instead of 15, here's the modified working code: 

 

<select name="ReviewRating" id="ReviewRating">
  
  <?php
//If form being shown for the first time
//We give Please Select option a value of 11 to make coding for it easier
  If($_POST['processform'] != 1 || $_POST['ReviewRating'] == 11) {
  echo "<option value=\"11\" selected=\"selected\">Please Select</option>\n";
  }
  
  //loops 1 through 10, and when a postback adds the HTML attribute selected to the option tag, if the rating matches the number being printed
  for ($i = 0; $i <= 10; $i++) {
  
  //If a postback, check which Review Rating was selected
  If($_POST['processform'] == 1) {
    $selected = ($ReviewRating == $i) ? ' selected="selected"' : '';
    }

echo "<option$selected>$i</option>\n";
  }
  ?>  
  
  </select>

 

Thanks again. 

 

Rgds