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Most web programming involves forms. Forms often require a viewer to enter information about themselves to sign up or order. If you allow a viewer to enter their state or province, you don't know whether you will get the full name, the full name spelled incorrectly, an abbreviation, or something that is completely irrelevant, such as a phone number. To keep our databases clean, we provide a dropdown for the viewer that will not allow invalid entry or entry in the wrong format for our database field constraints. Here is an example of such a dropdown.
Code to Use in your Site - please see notes below
<select name='State'>
<option value=''>Choose a State</option>
<option value='AK' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'AK') echo 'selected'; ?>>Alaska</option>
<option value='AL' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'AL') echo 'selected'; ?>>Alabama</option>
<option value='AR' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'AR') echo 'selected'; ?>>Arkansas</option>
<option value='AZ' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'AZ') echo 'selected'; ?>>Arizona</option>
<option value='CA' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'CA') echo 'selected'; ?>>California</option>
<option value='CO' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'CO') echo 'selected'; ?>>Colorado</option>
<option value='CT' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'CT') echo 'selected'; ?>>Connecticut</option>
<option value='DC' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'DC') echo 'selected'; ?>>District of Columbia</option>
<option value='DE' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'DE') echo 'selected'; ?>>Delaware</option>
<option value='FL' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'FL') echo 'selected'; ?>>Florida</option>
<option value='GA' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'GA') echo 'selected'; ?>>Georgia</option>
<option value='HI' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'HI') echo 'selected'; ?>>Hawaii</option>
<option value='IA' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'IA') echo 'selected'; ?>>Iowa</option>
<option value='ID' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'ID') echo 'selected'; ?>>Idaho</option>
<option value='IL' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'IL') echo 'selected'; ?>>Illinois</option>
<option value='IN' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'IN') echo 'selected'; ?>>Indiana</option>
<option value='KS' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'KS') echo 'selected'; ?>>Kansas</option>
<option value='KY' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'KY') echo 'selected'; ?>>Kentucky</option>
<option value='LA' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'LA') echo 'selected'; ?>>Louisiana</option>
<option value='MA' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'MA') echo 'selected'; ?>>Massachusetts</option>
<option value='MD' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'MD') echo 'selected'; ?>>Maryland</option>
<option value='ME' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'ME') echo 'selected'; ?>>Maine</option>
<option value='MI' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'MI') echo 'selected'; ?>>Michigan</option>
<option value='MN' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'MN') echo 'selected'; ?>>Minnesota</option>
<option value='MO' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'MO') echo 'selected'; ?>>Missouri</option>
<option value='MS' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'MS') echo 'selected'; ?>>Mississippi</option>
<option value='MT' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'MT') echo 'selected'; ?>>Montana</option>
<option value='NC' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'NC') echo 'selected'; ?>>North Carolina</option>
<option value='ND' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'MD') echo 'selected'; ?>>North Dakota</option>
<option value='NE' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'ME') echo 'selected'; ?>>Nebraska</option>
<option value='NH' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'NH') echo 'selected'; ?>>New Hampshire</option>
<option value='NJ' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'NJ') echo 'selected'; ?>>New Jersey</option>
<option value='NM' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'NM') echo 'selected'; ?>>New Mexico</option>
<option value='NV' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'NV') echo 'selected'; ?>>Nevada</option>
<option value='NY' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'NY') echo 'selected'; ?>>New York</option>
<option value='OH' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'OH') echo 'selected'; ?>>Ohio</option>
<option value='OK' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'OK') echo 'selected'; ?>>Oklahoma</option>
<option value='OR' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'OR') echo 'selected'; ?>>Oregon</option>
<option value='PA' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'PA') echo 'selected'; ?>>Pennsylvania</option>
<option value='PR' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'PR') echo 'selected'; ?>>Puerto Rico</option>
<option value='RI' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'RI') echo 'selected'; ?>>Rhode Island</option>
<option value='SC' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'SC') echo 'selected'; ?>>South Carolina</option>
<option value='SD' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'SD') echo 'selected'; ?>>South Dakota</option>
<option value='TN' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'TN') echo 'selected'; ?>>Tennessee</option>
<option value='TX' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'TX') echo 'selected'; ?>>Texas</option>
<option value='UT' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'UT') echo 'selected'; ?>>Utah</option>
<option value='VA' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'VA') echo 'selected'; ?>>Virginia</option>
<option value='VT' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'VT') echo 'selected'; ?>>Vermont</option>
<option value='WA' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'WA') echo 'selected'; ?>>Washington</option>
<option value='WI' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'WI') echo 'selected'; ?>>Wisconsin</option>
<option value='WV' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'WV') echo 'selected'; ?>>West Virginia</option>
<option value='WY' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'WY') echo 'selected'; ?>>Wyoming</option>
<option value='' style="font-weight: bold;">- Canadian Provinces</option>
<option value='AB' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'AB') echo 'selected'; ?>>Alberta</option>
<option value='BC' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'BC') echo 'selected'; ?>>British Columbia</option>
<option value='MB' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'MB') echo 'selected'; ?>>Manitoba</option>
<option value='NB' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'NB') echo 'selected'; ?>>New Brunswick</option>
<option value='NF' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'NF') echo 'selected'; ?>>Newfoundland</option>
<option value='NT' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'NT') echo 'selected'; ?>>Northwest Territories</option>
<option value='NS' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'NS') echo 'selected'; ?>>Nova Scotia</option>
<option value='NU' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'NU') echo 'selected'; ?>>Nunavut</option>
<option value='ON' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'ON') echo 'selected'; ?>>Ontario</option>
<option value='PE' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'PE') echo 'selected'; ?>>Prince Edward Island</option>
<option value='QC' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'QC') echo 'selected'; ?>>Quebec</option>
<option value='SK' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'SK') echo 'selected'; ?>>Saskatchewan</option>
<option value='YT' <?php if ($_POST['State'] == 'YT') echo 'selected'; ?>>Yukon Territory</option>
</select>
- This code will only work in a file with a .php extension
- Notice the == comparison operator.
- Notice that this example uses all single quotes. For many programmers, it is easier to go ahead and use double quotes in the HTML. Ex. value="YT" instead of value='YT'.
- Notice the >> before each state or province name. One > belongs to the PHP code, and the second > closes the option tag.
- This is an example of how PHP code can be used even inside an HTML tag. That is because the server does the PHP action and just sends the resulting HTML. If you use this code and look at the results the server sends, you will notice that the PHP code is gone.
- CSS can be used in the dropdown options. This example bolds the name to help the viewer know that it is the title of the rest of the selections.
<option value='' style="font-weight: bold;">- Canadian Provinces</option> - This code was modified from an entry in http://www.chronoengine.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=5798 . Please note that I found errors in the code from the page. The errors should be fixed in the code above.
© 2009, Nora McDougall