PHP Form Select

Form Select as Pull-down menu

A pull-down menu allows users to choose a single item from a predefined list of options. The size attribute's value of 1 tells the browser that you want the list to be in a pull-down menu format.

Within the select element, you create an option element for each of your options.

Place the option label between the <option> ... </option> tags.

Each option element can have an optional value attribute, which is the value sent to the server if that option is selected.

If you don't include a value attribute, the text between the <option> ... </option> tags is sent instead:


<label for="pullDownMenu">A pull-down menu</label> 
<select name="pullDownMenu" id="pullDownMenu" size="1"> 
    <option value="option1">Option 1</option> 
    <option value="option2">Option 2</option> 
    <option value="option3">Option 3</option> 
</select> /*from w w w . ja  v a  2s  . c  o  m*/

Form Select as List Box

A list box works like a pull-down menu, except that it displays several options at once.

To turn a pull-down menu into a list box, change the size attribute from 1 to the number of options to display at once:


<label for="listBox">A list box</label> 
<select name="listBox" id="listBox" size="3"> 
    <option value="option1">Option 1</option> 
    <option value="option2">Option 2</option> 
    <option value="option3">Option 3</option> 
</select> /* ww  w  .j av a2 s .com*/

Form Select as multi-select list box

A multi-select list box allows the user to select multiple items at once by holding down Ctrl or Command key.

To turn a normal list box into a multi-select box, add the attribute multiple with a value of "multiple" to the select element.

If the user selects more than one option, all the selected values are sent to the server:


<label for="multiListBox">A multi-select list box</label> 
<select name="multiListBox" id="multiListBox" size="3"  multiple="multiple"> 
  <option value="option1">Option 1</option> 
  <option value="option2">Option 2</option> 
  <option value="option3">Option 3</option> 
</select> /*  w w w.  j a va 2s.  c  o m*/

You can preselect an option in any type of select element by adding the attribute selected="selected" to the relevant <option> tag - for example: <option value="option1" selected="selected">.

Example

Name the following script as index.php. It has a multi-select list box.


<html>//  w  ww.j a va  2s . co  m
<body>
<div>
<form action="index.php" method="post">
<p><select name="products[]" multiple="multiple">
  <option>A</option>
  <option>B</option>
  <option>C</option>
  <option>D</option>
</select></p>
<p><input type="submit" value="hit it!" /></p>
</form>
</div>
</body>
</html>

The following script is for index.php.


<?php//from   ww  w . jav a  2 s  . com
  if (is_array ( $_POST ['products'] )) {
    print "<p>Your product choices are:</p>";
    print "<ul>";
    foreach ( $_POST ['products'] as $value ) {
      print "<li>$value</li>\n";
    }
    print "</ul>";
  }
?>

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PHP Form Select

Form Select as Pull-down menu

Form Select as List Box

Form Select as multi-select list box

Example

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