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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-27T04:11:10+00:00

How do I access the selected value of a drop down menu from html

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How do I access the selected value of a drop down menu from html and get it in php? I’ve got a few fields like this:

    <html>";            
    $sql = "SELECT * FROM table";
    $stuff = mysql_query($sql) or die ("An error has occured.");
    while($row = mysql_fetch_array($stuff))
    {
        $body.= "<option>".$row['value']."</option>\n";
    }
    $body.="<html>

I want to take this value and use it to filter the results I get from another query. How would I go about doing this?

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    In your current file

    You need to add form around your select element. I have also fix some of your code so that the select tags are included and the option tags actually have a value set in them!

    I have also added in a submit button so you can actually send the form.

    $body .= '<select name="filter">
       <form action="" method="post">';            
$sql = "SELECT * FROM table";
$stuff = mysql_query($sql) or die ("An error has occured.");
while($row = mysql_fetch_array($stuff))
{
    $value = htmlentities($row['value'], ENT_COMPAT, 'UTF-8');
    $body .= '<option value="' . $value . '">' . 
            "$value</option>\n";
}
$body .= '</select>
    <input type="submit" />
    </form>';

    In results.php

    You now need to grab the filter from the POST values and use it in your query to filter the results like so:

    $filter = '';
if(isset($_POST['filter'])) {
    $filter = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['filter']);
}
$SQL = "SELECT * FROM `table_name` WHERE `field` = '$filter'";
// you can do the rest of the code from here :)

    All in one file:

    <?php
if('POST' == $_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD']) {
    $filter = '';
    if(isset($_POST['filter'])) {
        $filter = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['filter']);
    }
    $SQL = "SELECT * FROM `table_name` WHERE `field` = '$filter'";
    // you can do the rest of the code from here :)
}

$body .= '<select name="filter">
       <form action="results.php" method="post">';            
$sql = "SELECT * FROM table";
$stuff = mysql_query($sql) or die ("An error has occured.");
while($row = mysql_fetch_array($stuff))
{
    $value = htmlentities($row['value'], ENT_COMPAT, 'UTF-8');
    $body .= '<option value="' . $value . '">' . 
            "$value</option>\n";
}
$body .= '</select>
    <input type="submit" />
    </form>';
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