How do I assign a database query value in such a way that the value becomes the selected value in a drop down box.

How do I assign a database query value in such a way that the value becomes the selected value in a drop down box.

I do not entirley understand the question, do you mean that you want to have some set variables, then one of them from a database, or do you want all of the options to be from the database??

Here is how i would do it for the second scenario:

<?php
$conn=mysql_connect("localhost","root","") or die(mysql_error());
mysql_select_db("testbase") or die(mysql_error());
echo "<select>";
$query=mysql_query("
	SELECT username 
	FROM users");
while($entry=mysql_fetch_array($query))
	{
	echo "<option"; 
	if($entry['username']==fred){echo " selected=selected";} 
	echo ">" . $entry['username'] . "</option>";
	}
echo "</select>";
?>

This code makes sure the option selected is the username value fred, change the if to what you need it to be

I want to be able to compare the value coming from a query to the database and a value from a drop down box in such a way that when they are similar, the drop down box value gets marked as selected.

Ok so are you saying that you already have the values of the options in HTML, or are the values selected from the database??

the values for the drop down box comes from the database. I want to be able to compare a value coming from another query.

Ok for this example i have put the option building into the code from the database

<?php
	$conn=mysql_connect("localhost","root","") or die(mysql_error());
	mysql_select_db("testbase") or die(mysql_error());
	$result=mysql_query("
		SELECT * 
		FROM users");
	$option="";
	while($row=mysql_fetch_array($result)) 
		{
		$option .= "<option";
		if	($_POST['name']==$row['username']) {$option.= " selected='selected'";}
		$option .= ">" . $row['username'] . "</option>";  
		}
?>
<form method="post">
<select>
<?php echo $option; ?>
</select><input type="text" name="name" /><input type="submit" /></form>

This creates the form, and when someone types a name in the textbox and submits the form, the name they have typed gets selected in the dropdown box.
Was this what you were looking for??

I may have mixed up my question. What I want to be able to do is compare a queried value from a database to the items of a drop down box. If the database value and drop down box item are the same, it gets marked as selected.

*Note: The drop down box values also come from the database.

Im going to ask a few more questions just to make sure i understand.

Where does the query come from (eg: the drop down box, a different drop down box, a text box)

Does the query come from the same field in the database as the drop box contents??

Can you give some details on your database design , and any php you might already have towards it so i can see what you are trying to do.

I sorry to hijack this thread but i have some similar questions.

I have a php script that reads values from a db and insert them in html as select options. When i select one of these options and press submit i want to send a value to the spesific record in my database. Is this possible? Can i even select multiple as well?

Best regards.

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