How to simplify my country select menu PHP/mysql
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3005398
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I have a select menu that displays countries. It looks at the DB and judging by the value in the db shows the option as selected. Is there a simpler way off doing this than:
if ($country == 'AG') {echo '<option value="AG" selected="selected">Antigua</option>';}
else {echo '<option value="AG">Antigua</option>';};
if ($country == 'AR') {echo '<option value="AR" selected="selected">Argentina</option>';}
else {echo '<option value="AR">Argentina</option>';};
if ($country == 'AM') {echo '<option value="AM" selected="selected">Armenia</option>';}
else {echo '<option value="AM">Armenia</option>';};
if ($country == 'AW') {echo '<option value="AW" selected="selected">Aruba</option>';}
else {echo '<option value="AW">Aruba</option>';};
if ($country == 'AU') {echo '<option value="AU" selected="selected">Australia</option>';}
else {echo '<option value="AU">Australia</option >';};
if ($country == 'AT') {echo '<option value="AT" selected="selected">Austria</option>';}
else {echo '<option value="AT">Austria</option>';};
if ($country == 'AZ') {echo '<option value="AZ" selected="selected">Azerbaijan</option>';}
else {echo '<option value="AZ">Azerbaijan</option>';};
if ($country == 'BS') {echo '<option value="BS" selected="selected">Bahamas</option>';}
else {echo '<option value="BS">Bahamas</option>';};
if ($country == 'BH') {echo '<option value="BH" selected="selected">Bahrain</option>';}
else {echo '<option value="BH">Bahrain</option>';};
There are a lot of countries and doing this would be madness wouldn't it????
Solution
Whenever you have a lot of code, that do practically the same it's a sign to use a loop or a function instead of rewriting thousands lines of code.
As Michael B. noticed on of the easies way is to use an array and a simple loop to display this list and mark correct element as selected.
$countries = array(
'us' => 'United States of America',
'de' => 'Germany',
'pl' => 'Poland',
'fr' => 'France',
...
);
foreach ($countires as $code => $name) {
echo '<option value="' . $code . '" ' . ($country == $code ? 'selected="selected"' : null) . '>' . $name . '</option>';
}
OTHER TIPS
Yes it would, read the DRY principle. Iterate through your resultset of countries and check inside the loop if that country is selected, like so:
$selected_value = 'AG'; // set to stored preference or something
foreach ($countries as $code => $country) {
echo '<option value="' . htmlspecialchars($code) . '"';
if ($code == $selected_value) {
echo ' selected="selected"';
}
echo '>' . htmlspecialchars($country) . '</option>';
}
Maybe something like this will works:
$myCountry = "PL";
foreach ($countries as $country) {
echo '<option value = "'BH'"'
if ($country == $myCountry) {echo ' selected="selected"';}
echo '>Bahrain</option>';
}
Where $countries is array or recordset with all countries data.
Depends on type of $countries you have to replace Bahrain data in example above with data taken from $countries.
Something like:
$countries = array('AG' => 'Antigua', 'AR' => 'Argentina', ...);
foreach($countries as $code => $name) {
$selected = ($country == $code) ? 'selected="selected"' : '';
echo '<option value="' . $code . '"' . $selected . ' >' . $name . '</option>';
}
Let $countries be the array of countries from the database. Let the specified country value be inside variable $country
foreach($countries as $value)
{
if($country == $value['code'])
echo '<option value="' . $value['code'] .'" selected="selected">'. $value['name'] . '</option';
else
echo '<option value="' . $value['code'] . '">' . $value['name'] . '</option>';
}
<?php if($country=" ") { ?>
<option value="">Select Country</option>
<?php } else { ?>
<option value=""><?php echo $country; ?></option>
<?php } ?>
<option value="Afghanistan">Afghanistan</option>
<option value="Albania">Albania</option>
<option value="Algeria">Algeria</option>
<option value="American Samoa">American Samoa</option>
<option value="Andorra">Andorra</option>
<option value="Angola">Angola</option>
<option value="Anguilla">Anguilla</option>
<option value="Antigua & Barbuda">Antigua & Barbuda</option>
<option value="Argentina">Argentina</option>
<option value="Armenia">Armenia</option>
<option value="Aruba">Aruba</option>
<option value="Australia">Australia</option>
<option value="Austria">Austria</option>
<option value="Azerbaijan">Azerbaijan</option>
<option value="Bahamas">Bahamas</option>
<option value="Bahrain">Bahrain</option>
<option value="Bangladesh">Bangladesh</option>
<option value="Barbados">Barbados</option>
<option value="Belarus">Belarus</option>
<option value="Belgium">Belgium</option>
<option value="Belize">Belize</option>
<option value="Benin">Benin</option>
<option value="Bermuda">Bermuda</option>
<option value="Bhutan">Bhutan</option>
<option value="Bolivia">Bolivia</option>
<option value="Bonaire">Bonaire</option>
<option value="Bosnia & Herzegovina">Bosnia & Herzegovina</option>
<option value="Botswana">Botswana</option>
<option value="Brazil">Brazil</option>
<option value="British Indian Ocean Ter">British Indian Ocean Ter</option>
<option value="Brunei">Brunei</option>
<option value="Bulgaria">Bulgaria</option>
<option value="Burkina Faso">Burkina Faso</option>
<option value="Burundi">Burundi</option>
<option value="Cambodia">Cambodia</option>
<option value="Cameroon">Cameroon</option>
<option value="Canada">Canada</option>
<option value="Canary Islands">Canary Islands</option>
<option value="Cape Verde">Cape Verde</option>
<option value="Cayman Islands">Cayman Islands</option>
<option value="Central African Republic">Central African Republic</option>
<option value="Chad">Chad</option>
<option value="Channel Islands">Channel Islands</option>
<option value="Chile">Chile</option>
<option value="China">China</option>
<option value="Christmas Island">Christmas Island</option>
<option value="Cocos Island">Cocos Island</option>
<option value="Colombia">Colombia</option>
<option value="Comoros">Comoros</option>
<option value="Congo">Congo</option>
<option value="Cook Islands">Cook Islands</option>
<option value="Costa Rica">Costa Rica</option>
<option value="Cote D'Ivoire">Cote D'Ivoire</option>
<option value="Croatia">Croatia</option>
<option value="Cuba">Cuba</option>
<option value="Curacao">Curacao</option>
<option value="Cyprus">Cyprus</option>
<option value="Czech Republic">Czech Republic</option>
<option value="Denmark">Denmark</option>
<option value="Djibouti">Djibouti</option>
<option value="Dominica">Dominica</option>
<option value="Dominican Republic">Dominican Republic</option>
<option value="East Timor">East Timor</option>
<option value="Ecuador">Ecuador</option>
<option value="Egypt">Egypt</option>
<option value="El Salvador">El Salvador</option>
<option value="Equatorial Guinea">Equatorial Guinea</option>
<option value="Eritrea">Eritrea</option>
<option value="Estonia">Estonia</option>
<option value="Ethiopia">Ethiopia</option>
<option value="Falkland Islands">Falkland Islands</option>
<option value="Faroe Islands">Faroe Islands</option>
<option value="Fiji">Fiji</option>
<option value="Finland">Finland</option>
<option value="France">France</option>
<option value="French Guiana">French Guiana</option>
<option value="French Polynesia">French Polynesia</option>
<option value="French Southern Ter">French Southern Ter</option>
<option value="Gabon">Gabon</option>
<option value="Gambia">Gambia</option>
<option value="Georgia">Georgia</option>
<option value="Germany">Germany</option>
<option value="Ghana">Ghana</option>
<option value="Gibraltar">Gibraltar</option>
<option value="Great Britain">Great Britain</option>
<option value="Greece">Greece</option>
<option value="Greenland">Greenland</option>
<option value="Grenada">Grenada</option>
<option value="Guadeloupe">Guadeloupe</option>
<option value="Guam">Guam</option>
<option value="Guatemala">Guatemala</option>
<option value="Guinea">Guinea</option>
<option value="Guyana">Guyana</option>
<option value="Haiti">Haiti</option>
<option value="Hawaii">Hawaii</option>
<option value="Honduras">Honduras</option>
<option value="Hong Kong">Hong Kong</option>
<option value="Hungary">Hungary</option>
<option value="Iceland">Iceland</option>
<option value="India">India</option>
<option value="Indonesia">Indonesia</option>
<option value="Iran">Iran</option>
<option value="Iraq">Iraq</option>
<option value="Ireland">Ireland</option>
<option value="Isle of Man">Isle of Man</option>
<option value="Israel">Israel</option>
<option value="Italy">Italy</option>
<option value="Jamaica">Jamaica</option>
<option value="Japan">Japan</option>
<option value="Jordan">Jordan</option>
<option value="Kazakhstan">Kazakhstan</option>
<option value="Kenya">Kenya</option>
<option value="Kiribati">Kiribati</option>
<option value="Korea North">Korea North</option>
<option value="Korea South">Korea South</option>
<option value="Kuwait">Kuwait</option>
<option value="Kyrgyzstan">Kyrgyzstan</option>
<option value="Laos">Laos</option>
<option value="Latvia">Latvia</option>
<option value="Lebanon">Lebanon</option>
<option value="Lesotho">Lesotho</option>
<option value="Liberia">Liberia</option>
<option value="Libya">Libya</option>
<option value="Liechtenstein">Liechtenstein</option>
<option value="Lithuania">Lithuania</option>
<option value="Luxembourg">Luxembourg</option>
<option value="Macau">Macau</option>
<option value="Macedonia">Macedonia</option>
<option value="Madagascar">Madagascar</option>
<option value="Malaysia">Malaysia</option>
<option value="Malawi">Malawi</option>
<option value="Maldives">Maldives</option>
<option value="Mali">Mali</option>
<option value="Malta">Malta</option>
<option value="Marshall Islands">Marshall Islands</option>
<option value="Martinique">Martinique</option>
<option value="Mauritania">Mauritania</option>
<option value="Mauritius">Mauritius</option>
<option value="Mayotte">Mayotte</option>
<option value="Mexico">Mexico</option>
<option value="Midway Islands">Midway Islands</option>
<option value="Moldova">Moldova</option>
<option value="Monaco">Monaco</option>
<option value="Mongolia">Mongolia</option>
<option value="Montserrat">Montserrat</option>
<option value="Morocco">Morocco</option>
<option value="Mozambique">Mozambique</option>
<option value="Myanmar">Myanmar</option>
<option value="Nambia">Nambia</option>
<option value="Nauru">Nauru</option>
<option value="Nepal">Nepal</option>
<option value="Netherland Antilles">Netherland Antilles</option>
<option value="Netherlands (Holland, Europe)">Netherlands (Holland, Europe)</option>
<option value="Nevis">Nevis</option>
<option value="New Caledonia">New Caledonia</option>
<option value="New Zealand">New Zealand</option>
<option value="Nicaragua">Nicaragua</option>
<option value="Niger">Niger</option>
<option value="Nigeria">Nigeria</option>
<option value="Niue">Niue</option>
<option value="Norfolk Island">Norfolk Island</option>
<option value="Norway">Norway</option>
<option value="Oman">Oman</option>
<option value="Pakistan">Pakistan</option>
<option value="Palau Island">Palau Island</option>
<option value="Palestine">Palestine</option>
<option value="Panama">Panama</option>
<option value="Papua New Guinea">Papua New Guinea</option>
<option value="Paraguay">Paraguay</option>
<option value="Peru">Peru</option>
<option value="Philippines">Philippines</option>
<option value="Pitcairn Island">Pitcairn Island</option>
<option value="Poland">Poland</option>
<option value="Portugal">Portugal</option>
<option value="Puerto Rico">Puerto Rico</option>
<option value="Qatar">Qatar</option>
<option value="Republic of Montenegro">Republic of Montenegro</option>
<option value="Republic of Serbia">Republic of Serbia</option>
<option value="Reunion">Reunion</option>
<option value="Romania">Romania</option>
<option value="Russia">Russia</option>
<option value="Rwanda">Rwanda</option>
<option value="St Barthelemy">St Barthelemy</option>
<option value="St Eustatius">St Eustatius</option>
<option value="St Helena">St Helena</option>
<option value="St Kitts-Nevis">St Kitts-Nevis</option>
<option value="St Lucia">St Lucia</option>
<option value="St Maarten">St Maarten</option>
<option value="St Pierre & Miquelon">St Pierre & Miquelon</option>
<option value="St Vincent & Grenadines">St Vincent & Grenadines</option>
<option value="Saipan">Saipan</option>
<option value="Samoa">Samoa</option>
<option value="Samoa American">Samoa American</option>
<option value="San Marino">San Marino</option>
<option value="Sao Tome & Principe">Sao Tome & Principe</option>
<option value="Saudi Arabia">Saudi Arabia</option>
<option value="Senegal">Senegal</option>
<option value="Seychelles">Seychelles</option>
<option value="Sierra Leone">Sierra Leone</option>
<option value="Singapore">Singapore</option>
<option value="Slovakia">Slovakia</option>
<option value="Slovenia">Slovenia</option>
<option value="Solomon Islands">Solomon Islands</option>
<option value="Somalia">Somalia</option>
<option value="South Africa">South Africa</option>
<option value="Spain">Spain</option>
<option value="Sri Lanka">Sri Lanka</option>
<option value="Sudan">Sudan</option>
<option value="Suriname">Suriname</option>
<option value="Swaziland">Swaziland</option>
<option value="Sweden">Sweden</option>
<option value="Switzerland">Switzerland</option>
<option value="Syria">Syria</option>
<option value="Tahiti">Tahiti</option>
<option value="Taiwan">Taiwan</option>
<option value="Tajikistan">Tajikistan</option>
<option value="Tanzania">Tanzania</option>
<option value="Thailand">Thailand</option>
<option value="Togo">Togo</option>
<option value="Tokelau">Tokelau</option>
<option value="Tonga">Tonga</option>
<option value="Trinidad & Tobago">Trinidad & Tobago</option>
<option value="Tunisia">Tunisia</option>
<option value="Turkey">Turkey</option>
<option value="Turkmenistan">Turkmenistan</option>
<option value="Turks & Caicos Is">Turks & Caicos Is</option>
<option value="Tuvalu">Tuvalu</option>
<option value="Uganda">Uganda</option>
<option value="Ukraine">Ukraine</option>
<option value="United Arab Emirates">United Arab Emirates</option>
<option value="United Kingdom">United Kingdom</option>
<option value="United States of America">United States of America</option>
<option value="Uruguay">Uruguay</option>
<option value="Uzbekistan">Uzbekistan</option>
<option value="Vanuatu">Vanuatu</option>
<option value="Vatican City State">Vatican City State</option>
<option value="Venezuela">Venezuela</option>
<option value="Vietnam">Vietnam</option>
<option value="Virgin Islands (Brit)">Virgin Islands (Brit)</option>
<option value="Virgin Islands (USA)">Virgin Islands (USA)</option>
<option value="Wake Island">Wake Island</option>
<option value="Wallis & Futana Is">Wallis & Futana Is</option>
<option value="Yemen">Yemen</option>
<option value="Zaire">Zaire</option>
<option value="Zambia">Zambia</option>
<option value="Zimbabwe">Zimbabwe</option>
</select>
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