Get selected value in dropdown list using JavaScript

javascript html-select
Fire Hand picture Fire Hand · Jul 6, 2009 · Viewed 4.3M times · Source

How do I get the selected value from a dropdown list using JavaScript?

I tried the methods below, but they all return the selected index instead of the value:

Answer

Paolo Bergantino picture Paolo Bergantino · Jul 6, 2009

If you have a select element that looks like this:

<select id="ddlViewBy">
  <option value="1">test1</option>
  <option value="2" selected="selected">test2</option>
  <option value="3">test3</option>
</select>

Running this code:

var e = document.getElementById("ddlViewBy");
var strUser = e.value;

Would make strUser be 2. If what you actually want is test2, then do this:

var e = document.getElementById("ddlViewBy");
var strUser = e.options[e.selectedIndex].text;

Which would make strUser be test2

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