Question

Using the example at the following URL: http://www.kavoir.com/2009/02/php-drop-down-list.html

How can I have that drop down menu pre-select one of the options such as ‘Apple’?

EDIT: Addition info

function showForm()

{
global $sProduct, $name, $product, $header_file, $footer_file, $form_width, $form_background, $form_border_color, $form_border_width, $form_border_style, $cell_padding, $left_col_width, $font_size;   
include $header_file; 
echo <<<EOD

<form method="post" class="cForm">
<table style="width:{$form_width}; padding:20px 7px 0px 7px; font-size:{$font_size}; background-color:{$form_background};" class="contactForm">
<tr>
<td style="width:{$left_col_width}; text-align:left; vertical-align:center; padding:{$cell_padding}; font-weight:bold; {$name[3]}">{$name[0]}</td>
<td style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top; padding:{$cell_padding};"><input type="text" name="{$name[1]}" value="{$name[2]}" size="25"/></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:{$left_col_width}; text-align:left; vertical-align:center; padding:{$cell_padding}; font-weight:bold;">{$product[0]}</td>
<!--<td style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top; padding:{$cell_padding};"><select name="{$product[1]}">-->
<td style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top; padding:{$cell_padding};">
<select name="{$product[1]}">
    <option value="1"></option>
    <option value="2">item 2</option>
    <option value="3">item 3</option>
    <option value="4">item 4</option>
    <option value="5">item 5</option>
    <option value="6">item 6</option>
</select>
</td>
</tr>
<td style="width:{$left_col_width}; text-align:left; vertical-align:center; padding:{$cell_padding}; font-weight:bold; {$code[3]}">{$code[0]}</td>
<td style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top; padding:{$cell_padding};"><input type="submit" name="submit" value="Submit" style="border:1px solid #999;background:#E4E4E4;" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2" style="font-size:10px; text-align:left; vertical-align:middle; padding:{$cell_padding};">
0:(var_product[0] = ({$product[0]})) <br/>
1:(var_product[1] = ({$product[1]})) <br/>
2:(var_product[2] = ({$product[2]}))<br/>
3:(var_product[3] = ({$product[3]}))<br/>
4:(var_sProduct = ({$sProduct}))<br/>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</form>

EOD;

Answer 1

I would throw another parameter into the generateSelect function that defines what the default is. You can do this with either the id of the option or by the name. For the following, I’ll use name to make it clearer.

function generateSelect($name = '', $options = array(), $default = '') {
    $html = '<select name="'.$name.'">';
    foreach ($options as $option => $value) {
        if ($option == $default) {
            $html .= '<option value='.$value.' selected="selected">'.$option.'</option>';
        } else {
            $html .= '<option value='.$value.'>'.$option.'</option>';
        }
    }

    $html .= '</select>';
    return $html;
}

/* And then call it like */
$html = generateSelect('company', $companies, 'Apple');