Populate select elements with PHP / MySQL

populate-select-menu-mysql.php

<?php 
// example sql statement
$sql = "SELECT col_for_value, col_for_label FROM some_table";
function database_select($tbl_value, $tbl_label, $select_name, $label, $init_val = "") {
    global $sql;
    $result = mysql_query($sql);
    $menu = "<label for=\"".$select_name."\">".$label."</label>\n";
    $menu .= "<select name=\"".$select_name."\">\n";
    $curr_val = (isset($_REQUEST[$select_name])) ? $_REQUEST[$select_name] : $init_val;
    $menu .= ($curr_val == "") ? "  <option value=\"\" selected>...\n" : "<option value=\"\">...\n";
    while ($obj = mysql_fetch_object($result)) {
        $menu .= "  <option value=\"".$obj->$tbl_value."\"";
        $menu .= ($obj->$tbl_value == $curr_val) ? " selected" : "";
        $menu .= ">".$obj->$tbl_label."\n";
    }
    $menu .= "</select>\n";
    mysql_free_result($result);
    return $menu;
}

// example:
// use the col names from the table too...
echo database_select("col_for_value", "col_for_label", "my_select", "Select from:");

/* example output

<label for="my_select">Select from:</label>
<select name="my_select">
  <option value="" selected>...
  <option value="val_1">value 1
  <option value="val_2">value 2
  ...
</select>

*/