Populate HTML Radio Buttons with Information from mysql Database

I don't think my request is difficult, but I am new to php and mySQL so any help would be much appreciated!

*I have a second table that is a list of inventory. The table has two columns: Manufacturer and Item.

*I have an html page that contains a form with two sets of radio buttons (the first set is for choosing a Manufacturer and the second set is for choosing an Item)

For the sake of simplicity, lets say there are 2 possible manufacturers (identified as Man1 and Man2) and 4 possible items (identified as 1, 2, 3, and 4). As stated above, on the html page with the form, the user first chooses either Man1 or Man2 from the first set of radio buttons. I would then like for the second set of radio buttons to be a list of available Items by the previously selected manufacturer. For example:

Here is a sample Inventory table: MANUFACTURER ITEM

Man1 1

Man2 3

Man1 4

So if the user selects Man1 in the first set of radio buttons, I would like for a second set of two radio buttons to be displayed with the values 1 and 4. If the user selects Man2, I would like for just one radio button to be displayed with the value 1.

What is the best way to go about accomplishing this?

Solution

You won't be able to do what you just described using just PHP and MySQL, because from what you're describing you want the radio boxes to be updated in real time based upon your selection criteria.

As rdlowrey stated, SO is not a code for free site, and it sounds like you have a lot to learn on your own. However, I can help you along with a quick ditty about what you'll need to do.

1) Build the HTML/PHP for your page 2) Write a javascript function that runs when the manufacturer is selected, utilizing AJAX to query your MySQL database, and to return the set of items for that manufacturer 3) That same javascript function would then use the returned information to update the DOM and generate the new radio buttons

I believe that's fairly straightforward, and this will probably be a good learning opportunity for you. Just know that you'll most definitely need to utilize AJAX to obtain the functionality you're describing.