sticky list box

[dudleylearning]

Hi,

 

how do I make the options within the list box sticky:

<label for="author">Author:</label>
<select name="author" id="author">
	<option value="">Select one</option>
	<?php foreach ($authors_in_db as $data): ?>
	<option value="<?php echo htmlspecialchars($data['id'], ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8'); ?>">
		<?php echo htmlspecialchars($data['name'], ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8'); ?>
	</option>
	<?php endforeach; ?>
</select>

I've managed to do it with a text area:

<label for="joke_text">Type your joke here:</label>
<textarea id="joke_text" name="joke_text" rows="3"><?php if(isset($_POST['joke_text'])) { echo $_POST['joke_text']; }?></textarea>

[requinix]

To make an option selected, add a "selected" attribute to it. As in

Whatever

Be sure to only mark the right one as selected - the name will match what's in $_POST.

 

Try that out, and if you have a problem then post what you have.

[dudleylearning]

I've tried this:

<label for="author">Author:</label>
<select name="author" id="author">
	<option value="">Select one</option>
	<?php foreach ($authors_in_db as $data): ?>
	<option value="<?php echo htmlspecialchars($data['id'], ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8'); ?>" selected>
		<?php echo htmlspecialchars($data['name'], ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8'); ?>
	</option>
	<?php endforeach; ?>
</select>

But that selects the last item. Would I need something similar to this:

<option value="<?php echo htmlspecialchars($data['id'], ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8'); ?>"
<?php echo($data['name']?' selected="selected"':'');?>>
<?php echo htmlspecialchars($data['name'], ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8'); ?>
</option>

?

[requinix]

Try it and find out

No really: a great thing about PHP is that if you're not sure about whether something will work or not then you can just try it and see what happens.

 

Though I'll say you should just do "selected" and not the whole "selected=selected" thing - it's more modern.

 

 

 

You have the right idea but there's a small problem with it.

>

Think about what that is saying: if $data[name] then echo selected else echo nothing. The echo parts are right but the condition isn't - it needs to be testing not whether the name has a value (which you know it does) but whether that value matches the one in the form.

 

 

[ginerjm]

IMHO you might also try writing this as PHP code with echo statements for the html rather than the opposite method that you are using. Easier to write, easier to follow and debug.

[dudleylearning]

i've attempted this one:

<?php if(isset($_POST[$data['id']])) echo($data['id']?' selected':'');?>>

Am I on the right lines?

[requinix]

That's a step in a direction that will not take you away from where you need to go.

 

You still need the comparison: output the "selected" if the ID in $data matches the ID from the form. That means there's going to be a == in there.

[dudleylearning]

i've tried to take into account your point:

<label for="author">Author:</label>
<select name="author" id="author">
	<option value="">Select one</option>
	<?php foreach ($authors_in_db as $data): ?>
	<option value="<?php echo htmlspecialchars($data['id'], ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8'); ?>" 
		<?php if(isset($_POST[$data['id']]) && $_POST[$data['id']] == $data['id']) { echo($data['id']?' selected':'');} ?>>
		<?php echo htmlspecialchars($data['name'], ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8'); ?>
	</option>
	<?php endforeach; ?>
</select>

Surely I'm not that far off now? Anything that you can see that I am missing from it?

[requinix]

Oh, I missed something that would have been nice to point out.

 

Remember how you made joke_text sticky? "If the joke_text is present in $_POST then output it"? Start with the same concept except with the author

if(isset($_POST['author'])) { echo $_POST['author']; }

then add a condition that the POSTed author matches the author in $data (remembering that what's in $_POST will be the author ID and not the name)

if(isset($_POST['author']) && $_POST['author'] == $data['id']) { echo $_POST['author']; }

then change the output to be not the value from $_POST but "selected".

if(isset($_POST['author']) && $_POST['author'] == $data['id']) { echo 'selected'; }

[benanamen]

@requinix, nice job with the trial and error approach with the OP. That is my prefered method of teaching rather than spoon feeding answers. He will learn better this way IMHO.

[dudleylearning]

thanks requinix, I liked how you gave me hints to the solution rather than just the solution 

[benanamen]

Thumbs up to you @dudleylearning. It says a lot about you as a coder. Many posters just want someone to spit some code out to them and don't care if it is correct as long as it 'works'.