Populate DropDown and Get Selected Value From Database - php

Question

I have the code to select the values from a database for populating my drop down list. But my question is if I stored the value of what the user selected in another database, how would I go about pulling that back out and making that the selected choice.
<select name="dropdown1" id="dropdown1">
<?php
for ($i = 0; $i < 5; $i++)
{
print '<option id="'.$options[$i]["ID"].'" value="'.$options[$i]["Value"].'">'.$options[$i]["Name"].'</option>'."\n";
}
?>
</select>
So the users stored value is lets say red. How would I make red the selected value as it populates my drop down list?
Thanks e

Answer 1

<select name="dropdown1" id="dropdown1">
<?php
$selected = "red";
for ($i = 0; $i < 5; $i++)
{
if ($options[$i]['Value'] == $selected) {
print '<option selected="selected" id="'.$options[$i]["ID"].'" value="'.$options[$i]["Value"].'">'.$options[$i]["Name"].'</option>'."\n";
} else {
print '<option id="'.$options[$i]["ID"].'" value="'.$options[$i]["Value"].'">'.$options[$i]["Name"].'</option>'."\n";
}
}
?>
</select>

Answer 2

On each element test the value. If the value is selected, print 'selected'.
<select name="dropdown1" id="dropdown1">
<?php
$selected = 'red';// obviously replace with DB value.
for ($i = 0; $i < 5; $i++)
{
// start as normal
print '<option id="'.$options[$i]["ID"].'" value="'.$options[$i]["Value"].'"';
// if this one is selected, add 'selected' to the tag.
// NOTE: booleans in HTML do not need to have an attribute value.
// so selected="selected" is not necessary here.
if( $options[$i]["Value"] == $selected ) print ' selected';
// finish as normal
print '>'.$options[$i]["Name"].'</option>'."\n";
}
?>
</select>
As a side note: if you use foreach it will make for smaller, more compact, and often faster code:
//this assumes that you want to iterate the whole options array
foreach( $options as $option )
{
print '<option id="'.$option["ID"].'" value="'.$option["Value"].'"';
if( $option["Value"] == $selected ) print ' selected';
print '>'.$option["Name"].'</option>'."\n";
}