Pass array values into select option fields within a form?

Question

This is based in PHP.

Is it possible to take an array like this:

$SELECT_INDUSTRY = array("Medical" => "Specialty", "Dental" => "Specialty", "Pediatrics" => "Specialty");

And have that pass those two values into something simple like this:

<select>
    <option value="$SELECT_INDUSTRY[]">$SELECT_INDUSTRY[]</option>
</select>

Where Medical would be the value being passed, and Specialty would be the public facing text.

This is the function I'm using to build the actual select boxes:

$SELECT_INDUSTRY = array("Medical", "Dental", "Pediatrics");
$FORM_SELECT_SIZE = 'input-min';
function get_options_industry( $arr = array() ) {
global $FORM_SELECT_SIZE;
echo '<div class="control-group"><label class="control-label" for="industry">Industry</label><div class="controls"><select name="industry" id="industry" class="'.$FORM_SELECT_SIZE.'"><option value=>Select an Industry</option>';
foreach( $arr as $option ) {
    echo '<option>'.$option.'</option>';
}
echo '</select></div></div>';
}
$FORM_FIELD_INDUSTRY = $SELECT_INDUSTRY;

And this is how I'm displaying the select:

<?php get_options_industry( $FORM_FIELD_INDUSTRY ) ?>

I feel like I'm close, or at least on the right track, just can't figure out how to pull the first array value into the value field, then the second into the actual name.

The goal is to get the value being passed in the form, is different than the public facing name. I realize that the above array definition I gave may not be the correct way to do this.

SOLUTION

Thanks to a couple responses below, here is the final answer to solve my problem:

$SELECT_INDUSTRY = array("Medical" => "Medical", "Dental" => "Medical", "Pediatrics" => "Medical");
$FORM_SELECT_SIZE = 'input-min';
function get_options_industry( $arr = array() ) {
global $FORM_SELECT_SIZE;
echo '<div class="control-group"><label class="control-label" for="industry">Industry</label><div class="controls"><select name="industry" id="industry" class="'.$FORM_SELECT_SIZE.'"><option value=>Select an Industry</option>';
foreach( $arr as $key => $value ) {
    echo '<option value="'.$value.'">'.$key.'</option>';
}
    echo '</select></div></div>';
}
$FORM_FIELD_INDUSTRY = $SELECT_INDUSTRY;

I then have to make sure that my key is unique so no duplicates are erased.

matt · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-11 22:58:33Z

3

How about this?

$SELECT_INDUSTRY = array("Medical" => "Specialty", "Dental" => "Specialty", "Pediatrics" => "Specialty");

.... other stuff you already have ....

foreach( $arr as $val => $option ) {
    echo '<option value="'.$val.'">'.$option.'</option>';
}

answered Jul 11, 2012 at 22:58

matt

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4 Comments

stebesplace Over a year ago

Let me give this a shot here.

stebesplace Over a year ago

Both this solution, and the one given above (or a combo of both) work for this solution.

M B Parvez Over a year ago

Is that possible to pass multiple value through one option just like- 'echo '<option value="'. $option->item1 .' '. $option->item2 .'">'. $key .'</option>';' ? If not, then what should I do in this case..?

matt Over a year ago

That works, if $option is in fact an object with those properties. Everything should work just fine.

wdm · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-11 23:07:06Z

1

Quick example...

$SELECT_INDUSTRY = array("Medical" => "Specialty", "Dental" => "Specialty", "Pediatrics" => "Specialty");

echo '<select>';    
foreach ($SELECT_INDUSTRY as $key => $value) {
    echo '<option value="' . $value . '">' . $key . '</option>';
}
echo '</select>';

You can reverse $key and $value depending on which you want displayed as the text and which you would like passed as the value. The way I displayed it in my example made the most sense to me.

edited Jul 11, 2012 at 23:07

answered Jul 11, 2012 at 23:00

wdm

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5 Comments

stebesplace Over a year ago

Looks like for this example, and what was given by @matt, the key is only giving a unique output in the foreach, for example, if I have ("Medical" => "Dental", "Medical => "Optometry", "Specialty Medical" => "Pediatrics"), Medical is only displayed once, even though there are two in here.

wdm Over a year ago

You should use unique keys in your array. So reverse what you have.

stebesplace Over a year ago

Ahh okay, that makes sense. Let me give that a shot here.

matt Over a year ago

Yes, that's how PHP arrays work. If you put in a second value for the same key "Medical" then it will overwrite the first value.

stebesplace Over a year ago

Nailed it! Posting up the solution in the original post.

user8086021 · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-30 10:59:51Z

0

This one works fine

$SELECT_INDUSTRY = array("Medical", "Specialty", "Dental", "Specialty", "Pediatrics", "Specialty");

echo '<select>';    
foreach ($SELECT_INDUSTRY as $key => $value) {
    echo '<option value="' . $value . '">' . $key . '</option>';
}
echo '</select>';

answered May 30, 2017 at 10:59

user8086021

1

1 Comment

Toby Speight Over a year ago

Welcome to Stack Overflow! Thank you for this code snippet, which may provide some immediate help. A proper explanation would greatly improve its educational value by showing why this is a good solution to the problem, and would make it more useful to future readers with similar, but not identical, questions. Please edit your answer to add explanation, and give an indication of what limitations and assumptions apply.

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