selecting option from select element with php

Question

I have a database field country which I want to query and select that country option from a select element. Is there any way to do this without adding:

if (query->country == "<some country>"){echo "selected"}

in every single option tag? As there are hundreds of country options. Here is a little example of the code. Thank you.

$query = $query->fetch_object();

// which ever country is held in the variable `$query->country` should be selected

echo"<select>
       <option>Afghanistan</option>
       ......
       ......
       <option>Zimbabwe</option>
     </select>";

You can do it easily if you've an array of countries. Simply match the value and echo when it matches. — Pankaj Sharma
– Pankaj Sharma, Commented Aug 3, 2014 at 16:59

Manfred Radlwimmer · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-03 17:02:06Z

1

Don't you have a list of all countries on your server?

$countries = ["Afghanistan", ... , "Zimbabwe"];

You could do something like this:

$selection = "Some country";

echo "<select>";

foreach($countries as $country)
{
    if($country == $selection)
        echo "<option selected>" . $country . "</option>";
    else
        echo "<option>" . $country . "</option>";
}

echo "</select>";

answered Aug 3, 2014 at 17:02

Manfred Radlwimmer

13.4k13 gold badges55 silver badges65 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

user2014429 Over a year ago

I will use this method. I just have to make one mammoth of a country array:).Thanks for the answer.

rlatief · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-03 17:01:46Z

1

The IF still needs to be "placed" on every <option> but as a programmer you should do something like this:

$options = array( 'Afghanistan', '...', 'Zimbabwe' );

foreach( $options as $option )
{
    $selected = ( $query->country == $option )? ' selected': '';
    echo '<option' . $selected . '>' . $option . '</option>';
}

and if you're unfamiliar with ternary operator, the $selected = ... part above can be written like this:

if ( $query->country == $option )
{
    $selected = ' selected';
}
else
{
    $selected = '';
}

answered Aug 3, 2014 at 17:01

rlatief

7225 silver badges15 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

selecting option from select element with php

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related