[web] Help with Select Box Problem

That's not Java by the way, it's &#106avascript.<br/><br/>"The first select box runs a mysql query" - no it doesn't. Browsers don't run database queries. They tell the server to run the query. It is important to get your descriptions accurate so that it becomes easier to see where you need to insert the logic. Probably what happens is that the client asks for this page, the server runs that sql query, and fills up the select box with the results, then that page is returned to the client.<br/><br/>Once the first option is chosen from the select box, the client can submit the form. The server sees the submitted form and looks at the value in the first select box. It uses that value to run a query to find the values for the second select box. Then it can return a page that contains both the select boxes filled in.<br/><br/>All that stuff about what is inside for loops is a red herring. Everything on the server is completed before the data goes back to the client, and when a client submits a form to a PHP page, that page is run from the beginning. If you need a 2 part process, you essentially need 2 processes - either 2 separate PHP pages, or some cunning if-statements inside one page.<br/><br/>A common method uses these days is to use AJAX, where instead of submitting the form and loading a new version of that form, you send some data in the background, get some data back, and fill in the 2nd select box based on that. But it's likely to be more complicated for you to do that until you fully understand how to do it the normal way.

ya sorry i meant to put &#106avascript<br><br>anyways kylotan, that is basically what I am trying to do.<br><br>My boss did mention maybe doing AJAX<br><br>but is there anyway besides that to get the boxes to work properly?

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but is there anyway besides that to get the boxes to work properly?

There is one more way, but you should use it only if the number of possible options for the second select box is very limited. You could have PHP generate a two-dimensional array containing all the possible values for select box 2. Then add an onchange() event to select box 1. When it changes, find the appropriate values for select box 2 in the array and fill it.

This quickly leads to a large block of generated &#106avascript and should only be used of the total number of possible options for select box 2 is very low.

well the total number of options is 10.

That's perfectly doable. Here are two examples that use &#106avascript arrays for dependent select boxes:<br><br><a href="http://www.houseofscripts.com/scripts/&#106avascripts/dynamsbox.htm">http://www.houseofscripts.com/scripts/&#106avascripts/dynamsbox.htm</a><br><a href="http://www.roubaixinteractive.com/PlayGround/&#106avascript/Dependent_List_Box.asp">http://www.roubaixinteractive.com/PlayGround/&#106avascript/Dependent_List_Box.asp</a><br><br>There are hundreds more if you Google.