auto selecting a SELECT with PHP

this is more of a PHP/HTML question I suppose

I have a taxation rate for different users stored in mySQL.

Based on the user that is logged in I SELECT the tax rate for the user's session.

I have a <OPTION> <SELECT> drop down which has a list of taxation rates.. the values can only be 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5%.

How do I make it so that the taxation rate of the user is SELECTED by default in the drop down menu?

my code so far:

<?php
$sql="select countryTax from c_countryTreasury where userid=1";

$result=mysql_query($sql);
while($row=mysql_fetch_array($result)){echo $row[countryTax].'%'; }

?>

<p>Select Tax Rate:</p>
<p><select>
<option>0%</option>
<option>1%</option>
<option>2%</option>
<option>3%</option>
<option>4%</option>
<option>5%</option>
</select></p>


So if the user's database profile has a tax rate of 2% then 2% will be the default value.. now what I mean?

<select>
<option>0%</option>
<option>1%</option>
<option selected="selected">2%</option>
<option>3%</option>
<option>4%</option>
<option>5%</option>
</select>

I think the first item listed is the one that shows up before the
user pulls-down the menu ... that would be the default one.

Oh ... I see now I messed it up. I was reading this wrong.
You'll have to figure out what the user's countryTax is by
fetching that ... which that variable would be the first one
in your <option> list.


<?php
$sql="select countryTax from c_countryTreasury where userid=1";

$result=mysql_query($sql);
while($row=mysql_fetch_array($result)){echo $row[countryTax].'%'; }

?>

<p>Select Tax Rate:</p>
<p><select>
<option><?=$row[countryTax]?>%</option>
<option>0%</option>
<option>1%</option>
<option>2%</option>
<option>3%</option>
<option>4%</option>
<option>5%</option>
</select></p>

I don't think I explained myself properly. sorry. this is difficult.

I am trying to make it so that the tax rate is AUTO SELECTED to the user's stored tax rate.

which means there has to be an IF condition.

something like:



$userTaxRate = $row[countryTax]; // get this from mySQL table of course...
<p>Select Tax Rate:</p>
<p><select>
<option <?php if($userTaxRate == 0){ echo 'selected'; }?>>0%</option>
<option <?php if($userTaxRate == 1){ echo 'selected'; }?>>1%</option>
<option <?php if($userTaxRate == 2){ echo 'selected'; }?>>2%</option>
<option <?php if($userTaxRate == 3){ echo 'selected'; }?>>3%</option>
<option <?php if($userTaxRate == 4){ echo 'selected'; }?>>4%</option>
<option <?php if($userTaxRate == 5){ echo 'selected'; }?>>5%</option>
</select></p>


I guess what I am asking is, is there a cleaner/better way of doing this?

You can write out the <option>'s in a loop comparing if the user tax rate equals the current loop value.

for ($i=0; $i < 6; $i++){
if ( $row[countryTax] == $i ) {
echo "<option selected=\"selected\">$i%</option>\n"; //user's tax rate
}
else {
echo "<option>$i%</option>\n"; //not the user's tax rate
}
}

Something like this

Or a slilghtly "cleaner" version


for ($i=0; $i < 6; $i++){
$row[countryTax] == $i ? $selected = 'selected=selected;' : '';
echo "<option $selected>$i%</option>\n";

}


The above should work ouit of the box.

Should be self explanitory as to what is happening. But willing to go into if you want.

sorry i noticed that the bit after : should read

: $selected = '';

I got it.

thanks guys.. you rock!

Or a slilghtly "cleaner" version


for ($i=0; $i < 6; $i++){
$row[countryTax] == $i ? $selected = 'selected=selected;' : '';
echo "<option $selected>$i%</option>\n";

}


The above should work ouit of the box.

Should be self explanitory as to what is happening. But willing to go into if you want.
Why didn't I use the ternary operator? You win. :p