How To Use a Few <SELECT> Tags to Implement a Large Table

Many developers use multiple <SELECT> tags on their Web pages. Unfortunately, due to the restrictions that are outlined in the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 265489, you must limit the number of <SELECT> tags on a page in Microsoft Windows 95 or Microsoft Windows 98. The Select_Example.exe file demonstrates how to implement a page that uses many <SELECT> tags in a table scenario without actually using a separate <SELECT> tag for each table cell.

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The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:
Release Date: May 15, 2001

For additional information about how to download Microsoft Support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help to prevent any unauthorized changes to the file. Select_Example.exe contains the following files:

File Name	Size
Select_Many.htm	6 kb
Parse_All.asp	1 kb

Select_Many.htm

1.	Download Select_Example.exe, and open Select_Many.htm.
2.	Provide the number of rows that you want to add, and click Add rows to add table rows on the Web page.
3.	Click any row to display the drop-down list box, and change the selection. If you click Hide Dropdowns, the drop-down list boxes disappear from the page.

Parse_All.asp

The sample code in Parse_All.asp demonstrates that all of the values that are associated with the form (even the added dynamic rows and the values that the user changes) are propagated to the server.

How the Sample Works

A single row, which contains <SELECT> tags, is dynamically placed on top of the table row that the user clicks. When a user clicks within a table row, the handle_click function is called, and the parentElement property determines the position of the table row that contains the cell that the user clicks. Before hiding the current row, the contents of <SELECT> tags are transferred into the previously selected row (which are stored in holder_row). The current contents of each table column in the newly selected row are then used to determine which element is selected within the corresponding <SELECT> tag. The table row is hidden when the <SELECT> tag is positioned on the new row.

This sample demonstrates that it is possible to implement a DHTML page to utilize multiple <SELECT> tags without using a separate <SELECT> tag for each cell within a table. This sample code is one among many ways to accomplish this task.

For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information about developing Web-based solutions for Microsoft Internet Explorer, visit the following Microsoft Web sites: