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Java Script to Get Selected Item from Drop-down Select List

By Stephen Bucaro

An HTML Select list is a form control used to create a drop-down list of items from which the user can select. Each item in a select list is defined by an option element. The most basic code for a select list is shown below.

<form>
<select>
<option>Item 1</option>
<option>Item 2</option>
<option>Item 3</option>
</select>
</form>

When the user selects one of the items in a select list, an onchange event is triggered. The selectedIndex property will then contain the index of the item that the user selected. Select list option indexes start with 0 for the first item. The code below shows one way to access the index of the item that the user selected.

<script>

function grabSelection()
{
  alert(document.myForm.mySelect.selectedIndex);
}

</script>

<form name="myForm">
<select name="mySelect" onchange="grabSelection()">
<option>Item 1</option>
<option>Item 2</option>
<option>Item 3</option>
</select>
</form>

Setting the Default Selected Item

You can set a default selected item by using the default attribute in one of the option elements as shown below.

<script language="JavaScript">

function getForm(form)
{
 alert(form.mySelect.options[form.mySelect.selectedIndex].value);
}

</script>

<form name="myForm">
<select name="mySelect">
<option value="Bread">Bread</option>
<option value="Coffee">Coffee</option>
<option value="Salad" selected>Salad</option>
<option value="Soup">Soup</option>
</select>
<input type="button" value="Get Selection" onclick="getForm(this.form)">
</form>

A select list is a form control, and there may be other controls in the form. In that case, you use a form button to pass the entire form. Note in the code above that I used the button's onclick event to execute the getForm function.

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