Selecting from a dropdown box

Question

I need to make sure an artist has been selected, but not sure if i should be using "artist" or "select". I have tried both and it's not working. The code must show an alert if there is no selection.

 function validate() { var select_artist = document.getElementById('artist'); if (artist == "") { alert("You need to choose an artist"); return false; } 

 <div id="artist"> <p>Select an Artist: <select name="select"> <option value="0">Choose Artist</option> <option value="1">Bobby Smith</option> <option value="2">The Vibes</option> <option value="3">Kids of Rock</option> </select> </div> 

Answer 1

You could use selectedIndex ;

function validate() {

    var select_artist = document.getElementById('artistselect');
    if (select_artist.selectedIndex < 1) {
        alert("You need to choose an artist");
        return false;
    }
}

Also, you are trying to get the selected option by using div element. Set id attribute for select element instead.

<select name="select" id = "artistselect">

Answer 2

 function validate() { var select_artist = document.getElementById('select'); if(select_artist.selectedIndex == 0) alert("You need to choose an artist") } 

 <div id="artist"> <p>Select an Artist: <select id="select" onchange="validate()"> <option>Choose Artist</option> <option >Bobby Smith</option> <option>The Vibes</option> <option>Kids of Rock</option> </select> </div>