PHP Dropdown pulling information from SQL database

Question

I'm trying to create a drop down with all my currencies, at the moment the values are 1, 2 & 3. I need the values of the drop down to stay as the number, but want the option text to say GBP, EUR and USD instead. I have this code:

<select class='dc_input' name='currency' id ='currency'>
    <?php

    $sql="SELECT l.currency
                    FROM locations l
                    GROUP BY l.currency";

        $sites = mysql_query($sql);
        while ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($sites)) {
            echo '<option value="' .$row['currency']. '"' .$selected. '>  </option>';
        }
    ?>

</select>

This works, I just don't know what to put in to make it change for each one.

Answer 1

You're not selecting the number from your database. Once you do, put the text in between the opening/closing tag, and leave the numeric value in the value attribute.

echo '<option value="', htmlspecialchars($row['id']), '">',
     htmlspecialchars($row['currency']), '</option>';

Answer 2

<?php
$currencies = array('', 'GBP', 'EUR', 'USD');
?>
<select class='dc_input' name='currency' id ='currency'>
    <?php

    $sql="SELECT l.currency
                    FROM locations l
                    GROUP BY l.currency";

        $sites = mysql_query($sql);
        while ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($sites)) {
            $index = $row['currency'];
            echo '<option value="' .$index. '"' .$selected. '> '.$currencies[$index].' </option>';
        }
    ?>

</select>

Also you can store currency ID's and currency name's on database . If you start supporting more than 3 currencies, it will be more easier for you.