Populating HTML Dropdown List using PHP/MYSQL - php

Question

I was practicing using HTML/PHP/MySQL, and was working on a small project.
I wanted to create a page that would allow the user to add records to a MySQL table. The user would enter the values via an HTML form. This data would then be posted to a php script to perform the actual INSERT INTO.
The database is for a shop, and has 2 tables, product and manufacturer. When adding a product, I must also add a code for the manufacturer. I want to populate a dropdown list, showing the names of manufacturers (taken from the manufacturers table).
I am attempting to embed this PHP code into an HTML file. Here is the code:
<form action="" method="post">
<fieldset>
<legend>Enter Product Details:</legend>
Product Name:<input type="text" name="productName"><br>
Product Price:<input type="text" name="Price"><br>
<?php
$host="localhost";
$user="root";
$pass="";
$db="computer_shop";
$conn=mysqli_connect($host,$user,$pass,$db) or die ("Couldn't connect");
$sql="SELECT * FROM manufacturer";
$result=mysqli_query($conn,$sql) or die ("Could not execute query!");
if(!$result){
echo"Error with results";
}
if (mysqli_num_rows($result) > 0) {
while($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
$code=$row["Code"];
$name=$row["Name"];
echo"<select name='select'>";
echo"<option value=" .$code.">".$name."</option>" ;
<echo"</select>";
}
echo "<br>";
} else {
echo "0 results";
}
mysqli_close($conn);
?>
<input type="submit" value="Submit">
</fieldset>
</form>
When I attempt this, it doesn't go well. When I load the page, the initial part of the form (with input boxes for name and price are fine), but the drop down list is a mess, and I see the code: "0) { while($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) { $code=$row["Code"]; $name=$row["Name"]; echo" along with a drop down list showing only $name, and then the submit button. So the HTML file is displaying part of the actual PHP code.
My question is, how do I fix this so that the drop down list will display the values from the mysql database? I have been looking through various sites, trying different things, but I keep getting a similar problem. Should I flip things, and embed the HTML inside a PHP file instead?

Answer 1

In general this code is not a good practice. Make sure that this code is in a .php file and your web server supports php.
Other than that, I think that the following script will solve your problem.
if (mysqli_num_rows($result) > 0) {
//open the select tag before the loop
echo"<select name='select'>";
//populate the select
while($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
$code=$row["Code"];
$name=$row["Name"];
echo"<option value=" .$code.">".$name."</option>" ;
}
//close the select tag after the loop
echo"</select>";
echo "<br>";
} else {
echo "0 results";
}