select with same data/options

Morgs Morgan

hi guys, i have six(6) select controls all with values 1-6. when i click submit in javascript i would like to check that a select's value has not already been selected by the other five (5) selects. can anyone please help me how i can do this, i have tried logic after logic and yet still no joy at all...please help me. i tried:

    //check template orders
    var ordercntr = false;//just a control key
    var partial = '';//i'm appending the selects ids to this variable on each iteration.
    var orderfinal = new Array();//will add the successful values of my selects(inside my if statement)
    for (l = 0; l < order.length; l++) {
        //looping through an array that contains selects ids(order)
       //select ids have the form: sel\_0, sel\_1, sel\_2, sel\_3, sel\_4, sel\_5 (there six selects in total)
        partial += order\[l\] + '~';//appending to my partial variable, the current select's id
        var d = document.getElementById(order\[l\]).value;//getting the value of the select
        if (partial.search(d) < 1)
           {
             //i'm searching for whether the selected value e.g. 1 has already been appended to my
             //partial variable 'partial' which at first iteration has a value of sel\_0~, second iteration=sel\_0~sel\_1
              orderfinal\[l\] = d; ordercntr = true;
           }
        else
           {
              ordercntr = false; break;
           }
    }

The logic works like a charm if the selected values in the selects are in the order 1-6 But fails badly if lets say the second(2) select has the value 5(or something else other than 2) i know i have to revisit the entire logic but i have tried and now i'm asking for help before i try forever. I will appreciate any help. Morgs

Luc Pattyn

there are several ways to do this. here are a few: 1. compare 2 with 1; then 3 with 1 and 2; then... 2. create a bit mask where each bit corresponds to a value (bit1=value 1, bit2=value 2, bit3= value 3,...); start at zero, then OR with the bit value, in pseudo-code bitmask=bitmask | (1< and finally check the final value is what it should be: 0x7E 3. similar to #2, use a bit mask; before ORing in a new bit, check the bit is still zero; if it isn't, there is a duplicate. 4. same as #2 or #3, however use a string instead of a bit mask. 5. same as #2, however use an array, have it sorted, then compare with what it should be. :) Luc Pattyn [[Forum Guidelines]](/KB/scrapbook/ForumGuidelines.aspx) [[My Articles]](http://www.perceler.com/articles1.php) Nil Volentibus Arduum Please use [**<PRE>**](/Tips/42071/Use-PRE-tags.aspx) tags for code snippets, they preserve indentation, improve readability, and make me actually look at the code.

Morgs Morgan

Hi Luc, Thanks for your suggestion, i found dodgy solution though. 1. I put all my selects ids in an array (e.g. ItemOrder) 2. i loop through the ItemOrder likse so;;

var count=0;
var isMoreThanTwo=false;
for(i=0;i1 then user chose the current select's value in more than one select
//otherwise count will always remain 1 if this select's value is unique
if(count>1){isMoreThanTwo=true;break;}

   }
   if(isMoreThanTwo)break;

}
if(count<=1)
{
//user chose a unique value for each select
}
else
{
//error, user has selected duplicate values in the selects!
}

The above works like a charm, might not be the best solution but does just the trick Thanks, Morgs

Luc Pattyn

that looks OK, except if(d==document.getElementById(ItemOrder[i]).value) should use a, not i. Keeping the approach, the code can be further improved by: - reducing the inner loop to for(a=i+1;a<ItemOrder.length;a++); - dropping the count variable - renaming the isMoreThanTwo variable to thereAreDuplicates something along these lines:

var thereAreDuplicates=false;
for(i=0;i<ItemOrder.length;i++) {
var d=document.getElementById(ItemOrder[i]).value;
for(a=i+1;a<ItemOrder.length;a++) {
if(d==document.getElementById(ItemOrder[a]).value) thereAreDuplicates=true;
}
if(thereAreDuplicates)break;
}

:) .

Luc Pattyn [Forum Guidelines] [My Articles] Nil Volentibus Arduum

Please use <PRE> tags for code snippets, they preserve indentation, improve readability, and make me actually look at the code.

Morgs Morgan

Thanks Luc, that looks pretty aswell, Oops your first comment was just a typo when i was writing at the forum otherwise i have it correct in my code.

sydongda

just sum six(6) select controls , and compare with (1 + 6) * 6 / 2. equals means ok

Luc Pattyn

{1,1,1,6,6,6} doesn't contain duplicates? :confused:

Luc Pattyn [Forum Guidelines] [My Articles] Nil Volentibus Arduum

Please use <PRE> tags for code snippets, they preserve indentation, improve readability, and make me actually look at the code.

sydongda

:-O