html select option SELECTED

Question

I have in my php

$sel = "
    <option> one </option>
    <option> two </option>
    <option> thre </option>
    <option> four </option>
";

let say I have an inline URL = site.php?sel=one

if I didn't saved those options in a variable, I can do it this way to make one of the option be SELECTED where value is equal to $_GET[sel]

<option <?php if($_GET[sel] == 'one') echo"selected"; ?> > one </option>
<option <?php if($_GET[sel] == 'two') echo"selected"; ?> > two </option>
<option <?php if($_GET[sel] == 'three') echo"selected"; ?> > three </option>
<option <?php if($_GET[sel] == 'four') echo"selected"; ?> > four </option>

but the problem is, I need to save those options in a variable because I have a lot of options and I need to call that variable many times.

Is there a way to make that option be selected where value = $_GET[sel] ?

Answer 1

Just use the array of options, to see, which option is currently selected.

$options = array( 'one', 'two', 'three' );

$output = '';
for( $i=0; $i<count($options); $i++ ) {
  $output .= '<option ' 
             . ( $_GET['sel'] == $options[$i] ? 'selected="selected"' : '' ) . '>' 
             . $options[$i] 
             . '</option>';
}

_{Sidenote: I would define a value to be some kind of id for each element, else you may run into problems, when two options have the same string representation.}