how to retain selected values in Select field after form submission? - php

Question

i have a main page that i used in uploading tickets to db, i have Select field that i want to retain the value that the user selected prior to submitting the form but its not happening...
here is my code for select field:
<select name="XiD" id="XiD">
<option value="Blank" selected="selected">Please Select...</option>
<option value="AAA">AAA</option>
<option value="BBB">BBB</option>
<option value="CCC">CCC</option>
<option value="DDD">DDD</option>
<option value="EEE">EEE</option>
<option value="FFF">FFF</option>
</select>
just to add, this Xid is being posted prior to submitting
$XiD = $_POST['XiD'];
and i try to use this script:
UPDATE - changed from $_GET to $_POST but still not working...
<script type="text/javascript">
document.getElementById('XiD').value = "<?php echo $_POST['XiD'];?>";
</script>
my jquery version im using: jquery-ui-1.10.2 and jquery-1.9.1

Answer 1

Use jQuery like this.
<script type="text/javascript">
jQuery(document).ready(function(){
jQuery('select#XiD').val('<?php echo $_POST['XiD'];?>');
});
</script>

Answer 2

You are using PHP to generate HTML. There's absolutely no need to use a third language to dictate how that HTML should be!
<select name="XiD" id="XiD">
<option value="Blank"<?=$XiD=='Blank' ? ' selected="selected"' : ''?>>Please Select...</option>
<option value="AAA"<?=$XiD=='AAA' ? ' selected="selected"' : ''?>>AAA</option>
...
</select>
Or, even better, simplify your code with an array and avoid writing duplicate code that's hard to maintain:
<?php
$options = array(
'Blank' => 'Please Select...',
'AAA' => 'AAA',
'BBB' => 'BBB',
'CCC' => 'CCC',
'DDD' => 'DDD',
'EEE' => 'EEE',
'FFF' => 'FFF',
);
<select name="XiD" id="XiD">
<?php foreach(options as $k => $v){ ?>
<option value="Blank"<?php echo $XiD==$k ? ' selected="selected"' : ''?>>Please Select...</option>
<? } ?>
</select>

Answer 3

According to your problem, it seems like you are using POST method (because you are getting value to $XiD = $_POST['XiD'];) and using GET to retrieve value.
So, use document.getElementById('XiD').value = "<?php echo $_POST['XiD'];?>";
instead of
document.getElementById('XiD').value = "<?php echo $_GET['XiD'];?>";

Answer 4

I would create a function to check if the current GET value is the same as the option in the list and in that case, return the needed attribute to make it selected by default, which is selected="selected".
This should work:
<?php
function isSelected($value){
if($value == $_GET['XiD']){
return 'selected="selected"';
}else{
return '';
}
}
?>
<select name="XiD" id="XiD">
<option value="Blank" <? echo isSelected('Blank');?>>Please Select...</option>
<option value="AAA" <? echo isSelected('AAA');?>>AAA</option>
<option value="BBB" <? echo isSelected('BBB');?>>BBB</option>
<option value="CCC" <? echo isSelected('CCC');?>>CCC</option>
<option value="DDD" <? echo isSelected('DDD');?>>DDD</option>
<option value="EEE" <? echo isSelected('EEE');?>>EEE</option>
<option value="FFF" <? echo isSelected('FFF');?>>FFF</option>
</select>

Answer 5

After trying al this "solves" nothing work. Did some research on w3school before and remember there was explanation of keeping values about radio. But it also works for Select option. See here an example. Just try it out and play with it.
<?php
$example = $_POST["example"];
?>
<form method="post">
<select name="example">
<option <?php if (isset($example) && $example=="a") echo "selected";?>>a</option>
<option <?php if (isset($example) && $example=="b") echo "selected";?>>b</option>
<option <?php if (isset($example) && $example=="c") echo "selected";?>>c</option>
</select>
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="submit" />
</form>