Use jQuery to change a second select list based on the first select list option

$("#select1").change(function() {
  if ($(this).data('options') === undefined) {
    /*Taking an array of all options-2 and kind of embedding it on the select1*/
    $(this).data('options', $('#select2 option').clone());
  }
  var id = $(this).val();
  var options = $(this).data('options').filter('[value=' + id + ']');
  $('#select2').html(options);
});
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.0.0/jquery.min.js"></script>
<select name="select1" id="select1">
  <option value="1">Fruit</option>
  <option value="2">Animal</option>
  <option value="3">Bird</option>
  <option value="4">Car</option>
</select>


<select name="select2" id="select2">
  <option value="1">Banana</option>
  <option value="1">Apple</option>
  <option value="1">Orange</option>
  <option value="2">Wolf</option>
  <option value="2">Fox</option>
  <option value="2">Bear</option>
  <option value="3">Eagle</option>
  <option value="3">Hawk</option>
  <option value="4">BWM<option>
</select>

Using jQuery data() to store data

I guess hiding elements doesn't work cross-browser(2012), I have'nt tested it myself.


I wanted to make a version of this that uses $.getJSON() from a separate JSON file.

Demo: here

JavaScript:

$(document).ready(function () {
    "use strict";

    var selectData, $states;

    function updateSelects() {
        var cities = $.map(selectData[this.value], function (city) {
            return $("<option />").text(city);
        });
        $("#city_names").empty().append(cities);
    }

    $.getJSON("updateSelect.json", function (data) {
        var state;
        selectData = data;
        $states = $("#us_states").on("change", updateSelects);
        for (state in selectData) {
            $("<option />").text(state).appendTo($states);
        }
        $states.change();
    });
});

HTML:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title></title>
    <script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.8.2/jquery.min.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
    <select id="us_states"></select>
    <select id="city_names"></select>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="updateSelect.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

JSON:

{
    "NE": [
        "Smallville",
        "Bigville"
    ],
    "CA": [
        "Sunnyvale",
        "Druryburg",
        "Vickslake"
    ],
    "MI": [
        "Lakeside",
        "Fireside",
        "Chatsville"
    ]
}

I built on sabithpocker's idea and made a more generalized version that lets you control more than one selectbox from a given trigger.

I assigned the selectboxes I wanted to be controlled the classname "switchable," and cloned them all like this:

$j(this).data('options',$j('select.switchable option').clone());

and used a specific naming convention for the switchable selects, which could also translate into classes. In my case, "category" and "issuer" were the select names, and "category_2" and "issuer_1" the class names.

Then I ran an $.each on the select.switchable groups, after making a copy of $(this) for use inside the function:

var that = this;
$j("select.switchable").each(function() { 
    var thisname = $j(this).attr('name');
    var theseoptions = $j(that).data('options').filter( '.' + thisname + '_' + id );
    $j(this).html(theseoptions);
});

By using a classname on the ones you want to control, the function will safely ignore other selects elsewhere on the page (such as the last one in the example on Fiddle).

Here's a Fiddle with the complete code:


Store all #select2's options in a variable, filter them according to the value of the chosen option in #select1, and set them using .html() in #select2:

var $select1 = $( '#select1' ),
    $select2 = $( '#select2' ),
    $options = $select2.find( 'option' );

$select1.on('change', function() {
    $select2.html($options.filter('[value="' + this.value + '"]'));
}).trigger('change');

Here's a fiddle

Tags:

Html

Jquery

Select

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