How do I populate these fields from existing data?

Question

I'm not sure how to make a few parts of my form to populate from data from an array I'm passing from the database.

First is this <select> object. The key estimate_lead_id in the database holds the value, and I want the dropdown to auto-select based on the value from the database.

<select name="estimate_lead_id">
    <? foreach($leads->result() as $lead) { ?>
        <option value="<?=$lead->id?>"><?=$lead->lead_name?></option>
    <? } ?>
</select>

EDIT: I'll break the second part into another question.

Answer 1

The selected option(s) will have the attribute selected="selected", so do a check during your loop and conditionally add this attribute:

<select name="estimate_lead_id">
    <? foreach($leads->result() as $lead) { ?>
        <option value="<?=$lead->id?>" <?php echo $estimate_lead_id == $lead->id ? 'selected="selected"' : ''; ?>><?=$lead->lead_name?></option>
    <? } ?>
</select>

I could use some clarification on the second part. What defines whether or not an item is in the estimate?