Chained Select Boxes using PHP / MySQL / AJAX
So, I got sick of using multiple singular select boxes. For this latest project I ended up with a table containing a category and text. About 500 entries. I used the AJAX from http://dhtmlgoodies.com
Source Files: DOWNLOAD
Check out the DEMO
The MySQL is simple, just an id, category and text field. There are multiple of the same category so I will start with the mysql connection and the query to pull them into a select using distinct.
dbcommon.php
mysql_connect("localhost", "username", "password") or die(mysql_error());
mysql_select_db("databasename") or die(mysql_error());
Select Boxes.
main select box query
$result = mysql_query("SELECT DISTINCT category FROM dialogue")
or die(mysql_error());
while($cat = mysql_fetch_array( $result ))
{ //this syntax highlighter blows, there should be option tags in this echo.
echo '';
}
JS within the select box page.
getText.php
include('dbcommon.php');
$category = $_GET['category'];
if(isset($_GET['category'])){
$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM dialogue WHERE category='$category'")
or die(mysql_error());
while($text = mysql_fetch_array( $result ))
{
echo 'obj.options[obj.options.length] = new Option("'.$text['text'].'","'.$text['id'].'");';
}
}
Im not much for tutorials but you can see the way I did it.
22 Responses to “Chained Select Boxes using PHP / MySQL / AJAX”
Leave a Reply
Hi Rob,
Got the script working correctly, thanks a million…I’m wondering how to post the value of the second select to an Insert/Update form function? Is this possible?
Cheers
Samuel
Hi Rob,
So my next question is,
How do you send the result of the second as a search term to a search page..
Presuming this can be done
Rob
Many Tanks
I got it working
Hmm doesn’t seem to display it all
link: http://www.179a.com/Roger.txt
Hi Rob
here is my form
=====================================
Select a Category
<?php
$result = mysql_query(”SELECT DISTINCT artist FROM mp_id3_tags”)
or die(mysql_error());
while($cat = mysql_fetch_array( $result ))
{
echo ”.$cat['artist'].”;
}
?>
Hi Rob
here is my form
=====================================
Select a Category
<?php
$result = mysql_query(”SELECT DISTINCT artist FROM mp_id3_tags”)
or die(mysql_error());
while($cat = mysql_fetch_array( $result ))
{
echo ”.$cat['artist'].”;
}
?>
========================================
Here is my gettext.php
===========================================
post the code you have and i can help
hey bob i have a problem on database there’s something wrong regarding with the fields and tables
the Table requires me ‘updata.metro’ doesn’t exist
because my table here is “location” and my field is “Metro Manila” & “Province”
please help me ASAP
which part is not working, can you post what you have done.
Well I tried doing that , but I just can’t get it
Change everything called category to artist and everything called text to album.
in the form where you see this..
is where the php goes, under the form snippet. that populates the form.
Yes your right, I have them in the same table..
so how do it now
Roger
you should have the album and artists in the same table
WOW this is just what I was looking for….
I have a table with `artist` and one with `album` how would I change this to show Artist in first and Album in the second,
Really would appreciate any help that could be given.
Note: I spent 2 hrs trying to solve this myself, without any luck…
@Bryan
2 tables, one is just categories the other is categories and the text for the seconds dropdown. its just matching categories.
In regards to my last post, I’m having trouble populating the second select box once something was chosen from the first select box.
About the db, are there various tables? How are the select boxes linked to each other inside the db?
Regards,
Bryan
Rob,
How did you organize your db? I can’t seem to figure out tying my db with the code you have provided.
Very cool, Rob. After I posted the question, I found out it could be done with the visibility: hidden style.
Thanks
@Bryan
The sky is the limit on this one. What I have provided is a simple example. Ive added in the hide/show portion.
How many child-trees can there be off of the parent?
Is there a way to completely hide the select boxes that come after the first one? In the demo there are two select boxes but the second one has nothing in it. Would it be possible to make the select boxes appear as needed?
Regards,
Bryan
This came in really handy and after some tweaking works perfectly for what I needed to do. Thanks for making this available…it saved me loads of time!
Very cool, implemented this into a site I’m developing
Had to make a few changes as my categories and sub-categories are stored in seperate tables in the DB.
I’ve also set it to pre-select whatever category is currently being viewed, but having a little difficulty pre-selecting the sub-category. Gonna stick at it a while longer and will post up my code when working if anyone wants it.
Thanks for the initial code, has certainly helped.