--- "Carl J. Hixon" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Carl, I couldnt even get that site to come up at all so, Im going to > > make some guesses here. > > So sorry, I had a typo in the url: > http://www.cgi-interactive-uk.com/populate_combo_box_function_php.html > > > 1. You want to populate a combo box. > > You know how to do that now. > > Lets pause here. I can populate the combobox from the database (just > like on the example site) but I don't know how to do the next step. > Use the data from the combo box? I don't even know what variable is > being set when I pick something in the combobox so I don't know what > would go into the submit button. I realize I need a submit button, I > can probably figure it out from the books that I have but I can't > identify the variable... I know that's pretty sad...
OK. Here are some basics. The HTML tag is a <select> element with nested <option> elements. A basic example looks like this: <form method='post' action='script.php'> <select name='var'> <option value='v1'>Value 1</option> <option value='v2'>Value 2</option> <option value='v3'>Value 3</option> <option value='v4'>Value 4</option> </select> <input type='submit' value='Button Label'> </form> In the example above, v1-v4 are the values sent to the PHP variable $_POST['var'] based on the user's selection. Value 1-Value 4 are the labels seen on the select list. The submit button gathers the data collected in the form (the select list in this case) and packages it via the POST method (or GET if you prefer to have variables go in the URL) and sends it to the PHP script identified in the action property of the <form> element. To get this list to be populated by a database query, you would send the query and output the lines for the <option> element for each row in the result set. > > 2. You want to allow someone to make an addition to that box. And when > > that is accepted, you want to do what? Put that new value into the db? > > I will probably just add a button for adding a new item to the list. > Better to figure out the basics before running off and trying to get > too fancy. There are a number of ways this could be achieved. If your form was simple and you didn't mind a page reload you could put the new value in an <input type='text'> element and when the value is received by the script, it would be inserted into the DB table for use the next time the select button is displayed. If you want a very dynamic change, you will need to use Javascript to notice when a value is in the text box and the "add" button clicked. You would then need to append an <option> element among the existing list of elements. You'd also have to add this to the DB table, probably when the form data is submitted so it would be available. This is tricky and probably more difficult than it's worth. One thing to look at is "remote scripting" which can achive this sort of result but is tricky to program and harder to debug. This kind of question usually comes from someone who has programmed or used programs created for the desktop. The web, because of its client-server nature and the fact that PHP runs on the server and is executed completely before the page shows up in the web browser. As such, it can't respond to user events in the browser. Javascript runs in the browser and can respond to these events. It is not easy to get Javascript to call a PHP script. It can be done with the remote scripting that I mentioned above along with the little-used and little-known Javascript XMLHttpRequest object. James _____ James D. Keeline http://www.Keeline.com http://www.Keeline.com/articles http://Stratemeyer.org http://www.Keeline.com/TSCollection http://www.ITeachPHP.com -- Free Computer Classes: Linux, PHP, etc. Spring Semester Begins Jan 31 -- New Classes Start Every Few Weeks. Community email addresses: Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Shortcut URL to this page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/php-list Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/php-list/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
