Question

Hello I have a select element which has a few options. I am able to get the selected option when an onChange event is fired. Now I need to pass that option text to php, either with pageload or ajax.

echo $form->select('data_source_select',$dataSourceOptions,null,array('escape'=>false, 'empty'=>'Select One','onChange'=>'getData(this)'));

is my select form element, with its options being set in controller. Now onchange, I need to pass the selected option to php/action to load the data specific to this option search. Any help would be great.

Thanks.

Answer 1

As you said, you could either do this as a regular form submission, or as an Ajax form submission. My answer will focus on regular form submission, since Ajax will essentially work the same way and can simply be added on to enhance it later.

One quick solution is to add a hidden field to your form, maybe call it “step” and give it a value of 1. When the data source is selected, simply submit the form and check the value of “step” in your controller. If it is equal to 1, you’ll know to load the data based on data_source_select. If the value of “step” is not 1, it indicates that you’re on another step in the process and you don’t need to process the data source value again.