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PHP

Welby Obeng
Welby Obeng
20,340 Points
Posted by Welby Obeng
Welby Obeng
20,340 Points

Return a form back with the values the user typed by echoing $_POST[""] in the value field.

I am working on a form and I have conditions the form have to pass. If there is an error. I return the form back with the values the user typed by echoing $_POST[""] in the value field for each input. I know how to do it if it;s a input method but not when it's a select dropdown..how will I do that in php

 <label for="fname">*First Name:</label>
          <input type="text" id="fname" name="user_fname" value="<?php echo trim($_POST["user_fname"]) ; ?>" required>

          <label for="lname">*Last Name:</label>
          <input type="text" id="lname" name="user_lname" value="<?php echo trim($_POST["user_lname"]) ; ?>" required>

          <label for="middle">Middle Name:</label>
          <input type="text" id="middle" name="user_mname" value="<?php echo trim($_POST["user_mname"]) ; ?>" >

          <label for="street">*Street Address:</label>
          <input type="text" id="street" name="street" value="<?php echo trim($_POST["street"]) ; ?>" required>

          <label for="city">*City:</label>
          <input type="text" id="city" name="city" value="<?php echo trim($_POST["city"]) ; ?>" required>

          <label for="state">*State:</label>
                <select name="state" required>
                <option value="AL">Alabama</option>
                <option value="AK">Alaska</option>
                <option value="AZ">Arizona</option>
                <option value="AR">Arkansas</option>
                <option value="CA">California</option>
                <option value="CO">Colorado</option>
                <option value="CT">Connecticut</option>
                <option value="DE">Delaware</option>
                <option value="DC">District Of Columbia</option>
                <option value="FL">Florida</option>
                <option value="GA">Georgia</option>
                <option value="HI">Hawaii</option>
                <option value="ID">Idaho</option>
                <option value="IL">Illinois</option>
                <option value="IN">Indiana</option>
                <option value="IA">Iowa</option>
                <option value="KS">Kansas</option>
                <option value="KY">Kentucky</option>
                <option value="LA">Louisiana</option>
                <option value="ME">Maine</option>
                <option value="MD">Maryland</option>
                <option value="MA">Massachusetts</option>
                <option value="MI">Michigan</option>
                <option value="MN">Minnesota</option>
                <option value="MS">Mississippi</option>
                <option value="MO">Missouri</option>
                <option value="MT">Montana</option>
                <option value="NE">Nebraska</option>
                <option value="NV">Nevada</option>
                <option value="NH">New Hampshire</option>
                <option value="NJ">New Jersey</option>
                <option value="NM">New Mexico</option>
                <option value="NY">New York</option>
                <option value="NC">North Carolina</option>
                <option value="ND">North Dakota</option>
                <option value="OH">Ohio</option>
                <option value="OK">Oklahoma</option>
                <option value="OR">Oregon</option>
                <option value="PA">Pennsylvania</option>
                <option value="RI">Rhode Island</option>
                <option value="SC">South Carolina</option>
                <option value="SD">South Dakota</option>
                <option value="TN">Tennessee</option>
                <option value="TX">Texas</option>
                <option value="UT">Utah</option>
                <option value="VT">Vermont</option>
                <option value="VA">Virginia</option>
                <option value="WA">Washington</option>
                <option value="WV">West Virginia</option>
                <option value="WI">Wisconsin</option>
                <option value="WY">Wyoming</option>
            </select>

2 Answers

thomascawthorn
thomascawthorn
22,986 Points

This depends how you create all the options in your select element.

If you had an array of all the states:

<?php

$states = array('state1', 'state2', 'state3');

you could foreach around the array to create your options

 <label for="state">*State:</label>
 <select name="state" required>

<?php

foreach ($states as $state) {
 echo '<option value="' . $state  . '">' . $state . '</option>';
}

?>

</select>

you would then need to check if the $_POST['state'] is equal to the current state in the foreach loop, and if it is, give the option the class of selected.

 <label for="state">*State:</label>
 <select name="state" required>

<?php

foreach ($states as $state) {
 if ($state === $_POST['state']) {
  $selected = 'selected';
} else {
  $selected = '';
}
 echo '<option value="' . $state  . '" ' . $selected . '>' . $state . '</option>';
}

?>

</select>
thomascawthorn
thomascawthorn
22,986 Points

I notice you have different values and information inside your options elements.

You might need a two dimensional array:

<?php

$states = array(
'state1' => array('value' => 'S1', 'text' => 'State 1'),
'state2' => array('value' => 'S2', 'text' => 'State 2'),

);
Welby Obeng
Welby Obeng
20,340 Points
Welby Obeng
Welby Obeng
20,340 Points

I create the options by manually pasting the available options

Adrian Zamfir
Adrian Zamfir
13,529 Points
Adrian Zamfir
Adrian Zamfir
13,529 Points

Hy. You can check if the $_POST["state"] equals value than you echo selected on the option with that value.

if($_POST["state"] == "value") echo "selected";

Hope this helps!

Welby Obeng
Welby Obeng
20,340 Points
Welby Obeng
Welby Obeng
20,340 Points

Let's say the user select value CA..how will I return that back?