Ajax (?) dropdown menu to pull info from MYSQL database

[happyavocado]

Hi there

I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the correct section...

I need to create three dropdown boxes (box 1:colour, box 2: price, box 3:brand) and when the user presses "GO" they are returned with the correct information, pulled from corresponding fields in my MYSQL database.

For example, colour: silver, price £100-£200, brand:samsung...should return 5 items on the page.

I do not need the dropdown boxes to populate depending on the previous selection - they are static, so to speak. If possible, I would also like the information to be returned on the page without the URL changing, which I think will involve ajax...?

I am not sure how to do this and appreciate any help at all, even if it is sending me to a tutorial on how to do this.

Many thanks in advance

[Jesdisciple]

Yes, this is AJAX... However, you'll also need a server-side (e.g., PHP) script to do the actual database lookup. For example, you might use database.php?colour=silver&price=100-200&brand=samsung in the AJAX request, and database.php would be responsible for getting the information and printing it in a way that your JavaScript could understand.

As for a tutorial, there are loads, and your use case isn't all that special from a code perspective. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=ajax+tutorial

[happyavocado]

Hi

Thanks for your reply. I use php to pull info from my database onto my page already. My stumbling block is putting it all together for these new purposes, I can't seem to get my head around it exactly!

Does anyone have anything a bit more specific to get me started?

Many thanks

[Jesdisciple]

Do you know how to get the values of the select elements? In case not, here are some resources:
http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-2-HTML/html.html#ID-94282980
http://www.w3schools.com/htmldom/dom_obj_select.asp
(I would give the Mozilla Developer Center link for this, but it strangely doesn't exist (https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Gecko_DOM_Reference).)
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms535893(VS.85).aspx