Loading a PHP file and set variable based on selection - php

Question

I need to load the content of a PHP file using jquery based on what is selected by the user in one or more select fields.
I can use...
$("#first-choice").change(function() {
$("#second-choice").load("getter.php?choice=" + $("#first-choice").val() );
});
...to create the variable 'choice' and when the 'first-choice' field is set by the user.
However, what if I want to use 2 variables based on two drop down selectors, to set the variable 'choice' (based on the selection of #first-choice) and choice2 (based on the selection of #second-choice).
So I would want to load a PHP file something like getter.php?choice=first-choice&choice2=second-choice

Answer 1

here's how i would handle this situation..
don't treat your selects as ids. use a single class for all select options, then bind .change() to all selects using a class-based selector. if you do this, you can iterate over X number of selects, use their ids as the query argument variable and their values as each query value. I created a quick demo for you on jsfiddle. I also posted the code for you below....
Here is my demo on jsfiddle
<div>
<select class="php-options" id='first-choice' name='first-choice'>
<option value='1-0'>choose</option>
<option value='1-1'>1-1</option>
<option value='1-2'>1-2</option>
<option value='1-3'>1-3</option>
<option value='1-4'>1-4</option>
<option value='1-5'>1-5</option>
</select>
</div>
<div>
<select class="php-options" id='second-choice' name='second-choice'>
<option value='2-0'>choose</option>
<option value='2-1'>2-1</option>
<option value='2-2'>2-2</option>
<option value='2-3'>2-3</option>
<option value='2-4'>2-4</option>
<option value='2-5'>2-5</option>
</select>
</div>
<div id="request-url"></div>
$(document).ready(function(){
//treat your select options with classes,
//bind change event on each select
$('.php-options').change(function(e){
var urlValues = [],
parameterArgs = "";
//loop selects to build parameters
$('.php-options').each(function(i,v){
var optValue = $(this).val(),
optId=$(this).attr('id'),
parameter = ""+optId+"="+optValue;
urlValues.push(parameter);
});
//build parameter string
parameterArgs =urlValues.join("&");
//output query
$('#request-url').text('getter.php?'+parameterArgs);
});
});