CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascriptphphtml
zak
zak

Reputation: 151

Remove blank options from select field?

I have a fairly simple select field with options fetched from a database (Magento) and echoed via

foreach ($groups as $a){

    if($a['label'] != NULL){    

        echo "<option value='".$a['value']."'>" . $a['label'] . "<option>";

    }

}

My problem is that even with server-side code preventing null fields, I still get empty option fields

I also have this JavaScript to sort my options alphabetically, could this cause me to have blank options?

                            function sortlist()
                            {
                                var cl = document.getElementById('group_id');
                                var clTexts = new Array();

                                for(i = 2; i < cl.length; i++)
                                {
                                    clTexts[i-2] =
                                        cl.options[i].text.toUpperCase() + "," +
                                        cl.options[i].text + "," +
                                        cl.options[i].value;
                                }

                                clTexts.sort();

                                for(i = 2; i < cl.length; i++)
                                {
                                    var parts = clTexts[i-2].split(',');

                                    cl.options[i].text = parts[1];
                                    cl.options[i].value = parts[2];
                                }
                            }


                            sortlist();

How could one ensure with JavaScript that no blank options in a drop-down select are displayed?

Particulars:

Data source for my foreach contains no blank fields

I get as many blank options as legitimate options

The end result source code looks like this:

enter image description here

Upvotes: 3

Views: 4201

Answers (8)

Will B.
Will B.

Reputation: 18416

The immediate issue I see with your code is you are mixing double and single quotes in your HTML and missing the closing option tag. <select id=""> vs <option value=''>

You should change your PHP output like so:

foreach ($groups as $a) {
    echo '<option value="'.$a['value'].'">' . $a['label'] . '</option>';
}

I like using array_filter for things like these. It allows you to specify your own method outside of additional condition checks from within your view.

$groups = array(
    array(
        'label' => '',
        'value' => ''
    ),
    array(
        'label' => 'test',
        'value' => 'test'
    )
);

function validate($var)
{
    return !empty($var['label']);
}

$groups = array_filter($groups, 'validate');
foreach ($groups as $a) {
    echo "<option value='".$a['value']."'>" . $a['label'] . "<option>";
}

http://ideone.com/h0Wk1T

Also unless you are dynamically sorting the values alphabetically with Javascript (onclick/user action) I suggest you sort your groups with PHP after using array_filter. A lot less frustration and doesn't rely on client-side compatibility.

function cmp($a, $b){
    return strcmp($a['label'], $b['label']);
}

usort($groups, 'cmp');

http://ideone.com/OH5vXL

Upvotes: 0

Eko3alpha
Eko3alpha

Reputation: 550

This should work just fine, also you don't have a closing tag which was causing some issues when I was testing. You should also not echo out every time in the loop. create a variable and echo once outside the loop.

$options = '';
foreach ($groups as $a)
{
    if(!empty($a['label']))
    {
        $options .= "<option value='".$a['value']."'>" . $a['label'] . "</option>";
    }
}
echo $options;

Upvotes: 4

Lakhan
Lakhan

Reputation: 13216

Try this code :

foreach ($groups as $a){

    if(trim($a['label']) != ''){    

        echo "<option value='".$a['value']."'>" . $a['label'] . "<option>";

    }

}

Upvotes: 0

Guilherme Ferreira
Guilherme Ferreira

Reputation: 143

Probably your array $groups comes with empty values, so try array_filter:

$groups = array_filter($groups);
foreach ($groups as $a) {
...

Upvotes: 0

Jeffwa
Jeffwa

Reputation: 1143

If $a['label'] contains 1 more more spaces it won't equal NULL or be empty.

foreach ($groups as $a) {
    $label = trim($a['label']);
    $value = trim($a['value']);
    if (!empty($label)) {    
        echo "<option value='$value'>$label<option>";
    }
}

Upvotes: 0

Shravan Sharma
Shravan Sharma

Reputation: 989

I think NULL is coming as a string. try this

foreach ($groups as $a){

if($a['label'] != 'NULL'){ //wrap NULL to single quote   

    echo "<option value='".$a['value']."'>" . $a['label'] . "<option>";

}

}

Upvotes: 0

Parixit
Parixit

Reputation: 3855

Using empty() will skip 0 also

if(!(!isset($a['label']) || $a['label']=='' || !isset($a['value']) || $a['value']=='')) {
          //logic here
}

Upvotes: 0

leopik
leopik

Reputation: 2351

Try with empty

if(!empty(trim($a['label']))) {
    ...

Once you'll be looking into this solution, you might also come across isset which is not quite what you need, since your if statement with isset would evaluate to true even if it's an empty string.

Upvotes: 0

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