Dynamically create Drop Down list with for current time as default.

[nkosinathi]

I have the code below which manually sets the default (select element default <option>) on the select element to 07:13. I want to use the current time as a default<option>.  I know how to get the current time using PHP, my problem is how to write some for loop or something similar to do this ?

 

Below is the manual code that sets the current time to 07:13

 

 

 

$tblString.="<td><select name=\"hour\" id=\"hour\" class=\"TextBoxes\">";

 

$tblString.="<option value=\"0\">0</option>";

$tblString .= "<option value=\"1\">1</option>";

    $tblString .= " <option value=\"2\">2</option>";

    $tblString .= " <option value=\"3\">3</option>";

    $tblString .= " <option value=\"4\">4</option>";

    $tblString .= " <option value=\"5\">5</option>";

      $tblString .= " <option value=\"6\">6</option>";

      $tblString .= "<option selected=\"selected\" value=\"7\">7</option>";

      $tblString .= " <option value=\"8\">8</option>";

      $tblString .= " <option value=\"9\">9</option>";

        $tblString .= " <option value=\"10\">10</option>";

          $tblString .= " <option value=\"11\">11</option>";

          $tblString .= " <option value=\"12\">12</option>";

          $tblString .= " <option value=\"13\">13</option>";

          $tblString .= " <option value=\"14\">14</option>";

          $tblString .= " <option value=\"15\">15</option>";

          $tblString .= " <option value=\"16\">16</option>";

          $tblString .= " <option value=\"17\">17</option>";

          $tblString .= " <option value=\"18\">18</option>";

          $tblString .= " <option value=\"19\">19</option>";

          $tblString .= " <option value=\"20\">20</option>";

          $tblString .= " <option value=\"21\">21</option>";

          $tblString .= " <option value=\"22\">22</option>";

          $tblString .= " <option value=\"23\">23</option>";

          $tblString .= " </select> :";

          $tblString .= "<select name=\"minute\" id=\"minute\" class=\"TextBoxes\">";

          $tblString .= " <option value=\"00\">00</option>";

          $tblString .= " <option value=\"01\">01</option>";

          $tblString .= " <option value=\"02\">02</option>";

          $tblString .= " <option value=\"03\">03</option>";

          $tblString .= " <option value=\"04\">04</option>";

          $tblString .= " <option value=\"05\">05</option>";

          $tblString .= " <option value=\"06\">06</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"07\">07</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"08\">08</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"09\">09</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"10\">10</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"11\">11</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"12\">12</option>";

          $tblString .= " <option selected=\"selected\" value=\"13\">13</option>";

          $tblString .= " <option value=\"14\">14</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"15\">15</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"16\">16</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"17\">17</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"18\">18</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"19\">19</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"20\">20</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"21\">21</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"22\">22</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"23\">23</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"24\">24</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"25\">25</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"26\">26</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"27\">27</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"28\">28</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"29\">29</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"30\">30</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"31\">31</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"32\">32</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"33\">33</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"34\">34</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"35\">35</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"36\">36</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"37\">37</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"38\">38</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"39\">39</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"40\">40</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"41\">41</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"42\">42</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"43\">43</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"44\">44</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"45\">45</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"46\">46</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"47\">47</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"48\">48</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"49\">49</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"50\">50</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"51\">51</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"52\">52</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"53\">53</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"54\">54</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"55\">55</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"56\">56</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"57\">57</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"58\">58</option>";

  $tblString .= " <option value=\"59\">59</option>";

$tblString .="</select>";

$tblString .= "</td>";

    $tblString .="</tr>";

[Psycho]

You're using a programming language, don't make things difficult on yourself. Use the PHP to create the select lists:

<?php

$hourSelect = "<select name=\"hour\">\n";
$currentHour = date('H');
for($hour=0; $hour<=23; $hour++)
{
    $hourStr = str_pad($hour, 2, '0', STR_PAD_LEFT);
    $selected = ($hour==$currentHour) ? ' selected="selected"':  '';
    $hourSelect .= "<option value=\"{$hourStr}\"{$selected}>{$hourStr}</option>\n";
}
$hourSelect .= "</select>\n";

$minuteSelect = "<select name=\"minute\">\n";
$currentMinute = date('i');
for($minute=1; $minute<=60; $minute++)
{
    $minStr = str_pad($minute, 2, '0', STR_PAD_LEFT);
    $selected = ($minute==$currentMinute) ? ' selected="selected"':  '';
    $minuteSelect .= "<option value=\"{$minStr}\"{$selected}>{$minStr}</option>\n";
}
$minuteSelect .= "</select>\n";

?>
Time: 
<?php echo $hourSelect; ?>:<?php echo $minuteSelect; ?>

[nkosinathi]

Thanks a lot mjdamato: Would you kindly explain this line of code

$selected = ($minute==$currentMinute) ? ' selected="selected"':  '';

[Psycho]

That's called a ternary operator. It's sort of a shorthand version of an If/Else statement. In this case I am using it to assign a value to $selected. If the condition in the parens is true, then the first value is assigned: ' selected="selected"'. If the condition is false then the second value is assigned: ''. I then use that value to set the appropriate option to selected in the HTML.

 

Here is a illustrative example:

$var = ([CONDITION]) ? [TRUE VALUE] : [FALSE VALUE] ;

 

$a = 1;
$result = ($a == 1) ? 'The variable $a equals 1' : 'The variable $a does not equal 1';
echo $result;
//Output: The variable $a equals 1


$a = 2;
$result = ($a == 1) ? 'The variable $a equals 1' : 'The variable $a does not equal 1';
echo $result;
//Output: The variable $a does not equal 1