Dropdown Menu to Query Database - php

Question

First of I apologize if this is a dumb question - I'm just starting to pick up my php/mysql skills. I'm making a dropdown form with 3 dropdowns. I want to be able to trigger a query from the form. You select Part Type, Make, Model hit submit and a table of results is displayed.
I have my form populated with 3 arrays and when you hit submit, I can echo the key of each selected item to the page:
echo '<form action="dbBrowse.php" method="post">';
$mak = array (0 => 'Make', 'Ford', 'Freightliner', 'Peterbilt', 'Sterling', 'Mack', 'International', 'Kenworth', 'Volvo');
$mod = array (0 => 'Model', 'Argosy', 'Midliner');
$p = array (0 => 'Part', 'Radiator', 'Charge Air Cooler', 'AC');
echo '<select name="drop1">';
foreach ($p as $key => $value) {
echo "<option value=\"$key\">
$value</option>\n";
}
echo '</select>';
echo '<select name="drop2">';
foreach ($mak as $key => $value) {
echo "<option value=\"$key\">
$value</option>\n";
}
echo '<select/>';
echo '<select name="drop3">';
foreach ($mod as $key => $value) {
echo "<option value=\"$key\">
$value</option>\n";
}
echo '<select/>';
echo '</form>';
//echo keys of selection
echo $_POST['drop1'];
echo "<br />";
echo $_POST['drop2'];
echo "<br />";
echo $_POST['drop3'];
//these echo something like 1, 1, 3 etc. to my page
Where I'm getting lost is I'm looking to take the selected options and insert them into a query something like this:
$dropSearch = mysql_query('SELECT * FROM parts WHERE part= "$partTypeVar" . AND WHERE make = "$makeTypeVar" . AND WHERE model = "$modelTypeVar"');
$partTypeVar being the corresponding value to the key that is being returned from the array.
I'm driving myself crazy trying to figure out how to make that happen. Eventually I want to expand this further but just being able to create a mysql statement with the values selected would make my day right now. I understand the concept of what needs to happen but I'm unsure of how to accomplish it. Any help or pushes in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

First of all, you have to delete the . char in your SQL query, there's no need to use it for now and of course assign the correct values to the variables.
$partTypeVar = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['$drop1']);
$makeTypeVar = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['$drop2']);
$modelTypeVar = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['$drop3']);
$dropSearch = mysql_query('SELECT * FROM parts WHERE part= "$partTypeVar" AND WHERE make = "$makeTypeVar" AND WHERE model = "$modelTypeVar"');
I am assuming that's the correct order of your variables.
I hope this help!

Answer 2

If I've understood your question, when the form is submitted, you want to query the database with the selected values.
Example using AND:
// Prepare the Query
$query = sprintf(
"SELECT * FROM parts WHERE part='%s' AND make='%s' AND model='%s'",
mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['drop1']),
mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['drop2']),
mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['drop3'])
);
// Execute the Query
mysql_query($query);
This will select all rows from the table parts that match those three values.
Example using OR:
// Prepare the Query
$query = sprintf(
"SELECT * FROM parts WHERE part='%s' OR make='%s' OR model='%s'",
mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['drop1']),
mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['drop2']),
mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['drop3'])
);
// Execute the Query
mysql_query($query);
This will select all rows from the table parts that match any of those three values.
You can read more about this:
mysql_query
mysql_real_escape_string
MySQL 5.6 Reference Manual :: 12 Functions and Operators :: 12.3 Operators

Answer 3

<select name="myFilter">
<option value="Chooseafilter" name="default">Choose a filter...</option>
<option value ="Lastname" name="opLastName">Last Name</option>
<option value="Firstname" name="opFirstName">First Name</option>
<select>
<li><!--TEXT SEARCH INPUT--><input type="text" name="search_filter" /></li>
...
dbconnection();#assume that all connection data is here
...
$filter = $_POST['myFilter']; #
...
switch($filter)
{
case "Lastname":
$selectedoption = "profile_name";
break;
case "Firstname":
$selectedoption="profile_first_name";
break;
case "Chooseafilter":
$selectedoption = "";
break;
}
$result = pg_query($db_con, "SELECT * FROM profile WHERE ".$selectedoption." LIKE'%$_POST[search_filter]%'");
$row = pg_fetch_assoc($result);
if (isset($_POST['submit']))
{
while($row = pg_fetch_assoc($result))
{
echo"<ul>
<form name='update' action='' method='POST'>
<li>Guest Last Name:</li>
<li><input type='text' name='profile_name_result' value='$row[profile_name]' /></li>
<li>Guest First Name:</li>
<li><input type='text' name='profile_first_name_result' value='$row[profile_first_name]' /></li>
<li><input type='submit' value='Update' name='update'></input></li>
...