Dynamic form population

Question

Hi all,
I found a tutorial that has the following:
<FORM name="selections">
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
  <tr align="center">
    <td nowrap height="11">  
<select name="example" size="1" onChange="redirect(this.options.selectedIndex)">
<option selected>---Select1-------------</option>
<option>Webmaster Sites</option>
<option>News Sites</option>
</select>
<select name="stage2" size="1" onChange="redirect1(this.options.selectedIndex)">
<option value=" " selected> </option>
<option value=" " selected>---Select2--------------</option>
<option value=" " selected>---Select2--------------</option>
</select>
<select name="stage3" size="1" onChange="redirect2(this.options.selectedIndex)">
<option value=" " selected> </option>
<option value=" " selected>---Select3----------------</option>
<option value=" " selected>---Select3----------------</option>
</select>
<script>
<!--
Triple Combo Script Credit
By Hamid Cheheltani/ JavaScript Kit (http://www.javascriptkit.com)
Visit http://javascriptkit.com for this and over 400+ other scripts
var groups=document.isc.example.options.length
var group=new Array(groups)
for (i=0; i<groups; i++)
group[i]=new Array()
group[0][0]=new Option("---Select2---"," ");
group[1][0]=new Option("Now Select This One"," ");
group[1][1]=new Option("JavaScript","47");
group[1][2]=new Option("CSS","46");
group[1][3]=new Option("Ajax","45");
group[2][0]=new Option("Now Select This One"," ");
group[2][1]=new Option("General News","115");
group[2][2]=new Option("Technology News","116");
var temp=document.isc.stage2
function redirect(x){
for (m=temp.options.length-1;m>0;m--)
temp.options[m]=null
for (i=0;i<group[x].length;i++){
temp.options[i]=new Option(group[x][i].text,group[x][i].value)
temp.options[0].selected=true
redirect1(0)
var secondGroups=document.isc.stage2.options.length
var secondGroup=new Array(groups)
for (i=0; i<groups; i++)  {
secondGroup[i]=new Array(group[i].length)
for (j=0; j<group[i].length; j++)  {
secondGroup[i][j]=new Array()  }}
secondGroup[0][0][0]=new Option("---Select 3---"," ");
secondGroup[1][0][0]=new Option("---Select 3---"," ");
secondGroup[1][1][0]=new Option("Now Select This One"," ");
secondGroup[1][1][1]=new Option("JavaScript Kit","http://javascriptkit.com");
secondGroup[1][1][2]=new Option("Dynamic Drive","http://www.dynamicdrive.com");
secondGroup[1][1][3]=new Option("Java-Scripts.net","http://java-scripts.net"); Option("Now Select This One"," ");
secondGroup[1][2][1]=new Option("CSS Drive","http://www.cssdrive.com");
secondGroup[1][2][2]=new Option("CSS Library","http://www.dynamicdrive.com/style/");
secondGroup[1][2][3]=new Option("CSS Help Forums","http://www.codingforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=13"); Option("Now Select This One"," ");
secondGroup[1][3][1]=new Option("Ajaxian","http://www.ajaxian.com");
secondGroup[1][3][2]=new Option("Ajax Scripts","http://www.javascriptkit.com/script/cutindex11.shtml"); Option("---Select 3---"," ");
secondGroup[2][1][0]=new Option("Now Select This One"," ");
secondGroup[2][1][1]=new Option("CNN","http://www.cnn.com");
secondGroup[2][1][2]=new Option("MSNBC","http://www.msnbc.com");
secondGroup[2][1][3]=new Option("ABC News","http://www.abcnews.com"); Option("Now Select A Page"," ");
secondGroup[2][2][1]=new Option("News.com","http://www.news.com");
secondGroup[2][2][2]=new Option("Wired","http://www.wired.com");temp1=document.isc.stage3
function redirect1(y){
for (m=temp1.options.length-1;m>0;m--)
temp1.options[m]=null
for (i=0;i<secondGroup[document.isc.example.options.selectedIndex][y].length;i++){
temp1.options[i]=new Option(secondGroup[document.isc.example.options.selectedIndex][y][i].text,secondGroup[doc ument.isc.example.options.selectedIndex][y][i].value)
temp1.options[0].selected=true
secondGroup[1][2][0]=new
secondGroup[1][3][0]=new
secondGroup[2][0][0]=new
secondGroup[2][2][0]=new
var
function redirect2(z){
window.location=temp1[z].value
//-->
</script>
  </td>
  </tr>
</table>
</FORM>
<p><font face="arial" size="-2">This free script provided by</font><br>
<font face="arial, helvetica" size="-2"><a href="http://javascriptkit.com">JavaScript
Kit</a></font></p>
Is there a tutorial that can show me how to do the same thing as this, but have the drop down boxes populate from a database instead of from predefined vales?
thanks.

Answer 1

I'm a bit confused by the question. Are you saying that you want the textbox to automatically update it's value everytime the combo box's currently selected item is changed. And you want the value assigned to the textbox to come from some place other than the value of the currently selected combobox item. Where should the value for the textbox come from? Looking at this it seems like you may want a simple map data structure that maps each combo box element to a description string. When the combo box is modified you should grab the currently selected element and lookup the description for that element in the map data structure and then set the textbox to the looked-up description. I may be missing something here..