CODEWITHSUNDEEP
phphtmlforms
nathzOO
nathzOO

Reputation: 77

How to get the selected dropdown item

The below code is what I use to generate a dropdown menu from my database which I finally have working (new to php and mysql).

First of all, have I used the best method for doing so?

Secondly, I would then like to use the selected item to generate an image depending on the category selected once submitted using a button. How can I use the selected item in the drop down menu so that when the form is submitted it can generate the related image?

<?php
include_once ("conn.php");
$querydropdown = "SELECT DISTINCT category FROM categorytypes";
$resultcategories = $mysqli->query($querydropdown);

?>

<html>

<head>


</head>

<body>

<select id="categories" class="admindropdown">
    <option selected disabled>Choose one</option>
<?php
    while ($rowCerts = $resultcategories->fetch_assoc()) {
        echo "<option value=\"{$rowCerts['category']}\">";
        echo $rowCerts['category'];
        echo "</option>";
    }
?>

</select>

</body>

Upvotes: 2

Views: 66

Answers (1)

Adr
Adr

Reputation: 424

You need to add a name attribute to your selectelement.

For instance:

<select id="categories" class="admindropdown" name="my_dropdown">
    <option selected disabled>Choose one</option>
<?php
    while ($rowCerts = $resultcategories->fetch_assoc()) {
        echo "<option value=\"{$rowCerts['category']}\">";
        echo $rowCerts['category'];
        echo "</option>";
    }
?>

</select>

Then you can get the value using:

$dropdown_value = $_POST['my_dropdown'];

Where my_dropdown is the value of the name attribute of your select element.

Also you have to wrap the above code with a form element.

<form action="" method="POST">
/* CODE HERE */
</form>

You can leave the value of action attribute empty if you want to access it on the same page.

have fun!

Upvotes: 1

Related Questions