dropdown list selection

[mankool]

Hi,
I know I'm supposed to search the forum for answers before posting but I can't really seem to find the right word for my search. The search feature has been really helpful lately but this time I'm outta clues ....
Here is what I'm trying to accomplish: I've got a dropdown list that is populated via a php script. Whenever the user selects a value from the list, they have to click on the 'submit' button in order to retrieve the values. I don't want this .... I don't want them to click on the button, rather, retrieve the values from the DB immediately upon selection of a list item. Its like ... I select a value from the dropdown list and it automatically uses its value to retrieve relevant details from the DB, no need to click on any button or anything. How do I do this with js ? Can I accomplish the same with php as well (don't think so ?)

I hope I'm clear ...
any help is much appreciated.

regards,
mankool

[ptolemy]

You should be using the select's onchange event handler.

For example:

<select onchange='...javascript...'>
</select>

[adios]

You didn't mention whether you wanted to refresh the page or not; there are ways of doing this that avoid a reload entirely. If that's not an issue, you can submit the form directly from the select list:

<select........onchange="if(selectedIndex!=0)this.form.submit()">
<option>dummy</option>
<option value="aaa">choice</option>
<option value="bbb">choice</option>
........

However...this is considered bad UI design, since the submission should arguably involve a different action from the list selection; the above allows no leeway for an incorrect choice.

[mankool]

Thanks for the help ... working just as I wanted

thank you (both of you)