Yii Dependent-dropdown code not working - php

Question

I am trying to setup a new application using the Yii framework that requires a dependent dropdown, so that when a user selects the jobSkillArea, the options for the next dropdown, jobSkillSpecialty, gets loaded using the built-in jQuery methods. I have copied and modified the code from things I found here and the Yii forums, but I am getting nothing, not even in Chrome's javascript console. Can anyone look at this and see where I've gone wrong? Thanks.
Here is the code in my view for the two dropdowns:
<div class="row">
<?php echo $form->labelEx($model,'jobSkillArea'); ?>
<?php
$list = array();
$list = CHtml::listData(validJobSkillAreas::model()->findAll(), 'JobSkillArea', 'JobSkillArea');
echo $form->dropDownList($model, 'jobSkillArea', $list,
array('prompt'=>'--Select Skill Area--'),
array(
'ajax'=>array(
'type'=>'POST',
'data'=>array('jobSkillArea'=>'js:this.value'),
'url'=>CController::createUrl('NewConsFormController/getSkillSpecialty'),
'update'=>'#'.CHtml::activeId($model,'jobSkillSpecialty')
)
)
);
?>
<?php echo $form->error($model,'jobSkillArea'); ?>
</div>
<div class="row">
<?php echo $form->labelEx($model,'jobSkillSpecialty'); ?>
<?php
$list = array();
$list = CHtml::listData(validJobSkillSpecialties::model()->findAll(),'jobSkillSpecialty','jobSkillSpecialty');
echo $form->dropDownList($model, 'jobSkillSpecialty', array(), array('prompt'=>'--Select Skill Specialty--'));
?>
<?php echo $form->error($model,'jobSkillSpecialty'); ?>
</div>
Then below is the code called by the first dropdown from my controller. The first find is to get the ID that links the parent with the child since I am not storing the KeyValue in the end product. The rest is as it came from the forums.
public function actionGetSkillSpecialty() {
$areaID = ValidJobSkillAreas::model()->find('JobSkillArea=:SkillArea',
array(':SkillArea'=>'$_POST[$jobSkillArea]'));
$data=ValidJobSkillSpecialties::model()->findAll('SkillAreaId=:SkillAreaId',
array(':SkillAreaId'=>$areaID->ID));
$list=array();
$list=CHtml::listData($data,'jobSkillSpecialty','jobSkillSpecialty');
echo "<option value=''>--Select Skill Specialty--</option>";
foreach($list as $value=>$jobSkillSpecialty) {
echo CHtml::tag('option',
array('value'=>$value),CHtml::encode($jobSkillSpecialty),true);
}
}
The view is a partial render within the _form view because that was the only way I could get the accordion widget to work with the fields I have. This is the accordion code that calls the jobDetails section that contains the two dropdown selection boxes.
<div id="accordion">
<?php
$this->widget('zii.widgets.jui.CJuiAccordion', array(
'panels'=>array(
'Job Details'=>$this->renderPartial('_partial_jobdetails',array('model'=>$model,'this'=>$this,'form'=>$form),true,false),
'Consultant Details'=>$this->renderPartial('_partial_consdetails',array('model'=>$model,'this'=>$this,'form'=>$form),true,false),
'Client Details'=>$this->renderPartial('_partial_clientdetails',array('model'=>$model,'this'=>$this,'form'=>$form),true,false),
'Internal Info'=>$this->renderPartial('_partial_internaldetails',array('model'=>$model,'this'=>$this,'form'=>$form),true,false),
'Form Requirements'=>$this->renderPartial('_partial_formsdetails',array('model'=>$model,'this'=>$this,'form'=>$form),true,false),
'JPMC Details'=>$this->renderPartial('_partial_jpmcdetails',array('model'=>$model,'this'=>$this,'form'=>$form),true,false),
),
// additional javascript options for the accordion plugin
'options'=>array(
'collapsible'=>true,
'active'=>false,
'autoHeight'=>false,
'heightStyle'=>'content',
),
'htmlOptions'=>array(
// HTML options you may need
),
));
?>
</div>

Answer 1

Please try the following code
View
<?php
echo CHtml::dropDownList('region_id','',
CHtml::listData($courses, 'course_id', 'course_name'),
array(
'prompt'=>'Select Region',
'ajax' => array(
'type'=>'POST',
'url'=>CController::createUrl('loadcities'),
'update'=>'#city_name',
'data'=>array('region'=>'js:this.value'),
)));
echo CHtml::dropDownList('city_name','', array(), array('prompt'=>'Select City'),
);
?>
=================================================
controller function
public function actionLoadcities()
{
$data=City::model()->findAll('course='.$_POST['region'],
array(':region'=>(int) $_POST['region']));
$data=CHtml::listData($data,'city_id','city_name');
echo "<option value=''>Select City</option>";
foreach($data as $value=>$city_name)
echo CHtml::tag('option', array('value'=>$value),CHtml::encode($city_name),true);
}