Saving/Loading Data in Drop-down list

[AutumnDusk]

I'm a bit of a PHP noob, generally though I muddle through.  But I have a drop-down list with set values.  When there is a corresponding value in my database when the page loads I want the drop-down list to pick the appropriate value from the list.  Instead it always defaults to the first value.  Can anyone give me an example of how to do this?

 

Also, one time after adding a variable to a classes file this symbol:  started showing up on all of my pages.  Has anyone seen this before?  I can't find any information on the web about it.

 

Thanks for any help!

[trq]

You might want to post some code.

[AutumnDusk]

Sorry about that:

 

<tr><td valign="bottom">City Area</td><td>
              		<select name="region" size="1" class="inputbox">
            <option value="Edmonton - North" <?php if ($row->$region = "Edmonton - North") { ?> selected="selected"<?php } ?>>Edmonton - North</option>
            <option value="Edmonton - East" <?php if ($row->$region = "Edmonton - East") { ?> selected="selected"<?php } ?>>Edmonton - East</option>
            <option value="Edmonton - South" <?php if ($row->$region = "Edmonton - South") { ?> selected="selected"<?php } ?>>Edmonton - South</option>
            <option value="Edmonton - West" <?php if ($row->$region = "Edmonton - West") { ?> selected="selected"<?php } ?>>Edmonton - West</option>
                      <option value="Edmonton - Region" <?php if ($row->$region = "Edmonton - Region") { ?> selected="selected"<?php } ?>>Edmonton - Region</option>
            <option value="Calgary" <?php if ($row->$region = "Calgary") { ?> selected="selected"<?php } ?>>Calgary</option>
            <option value="Northern Alberta" <?php if ($row->$region = "Northen Alberta") { ?> selected="selected"<?php } ?>>Northern Alberta</option>
	</select>
              </td></tr>

[rarebit]

Add 'selected' to one of the elements:

<option selected>