Cascading Drop Down List populated from MYSQL Database

I was recommened to post here as I was told AJAX would work better for my application.

Here is my previous post:
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/23686022/Cascading-Drop-Down-List-populated-from-Mysql.html?cid=748&anchorAnswerId=22340593#a22340593

Basically I have the database setup and some very very primative php files that I am not totally comfortable with.

I need to design an interface for my database as follows:

A user selects a car maker from dropdown list #1 (this list is populated from the make field of the maker table via maker_id?).
After this occurs, the models for that maker appear in dropdown list #2 (this dd list is populated likewise from its respective table via its respective field(s)?).

After this, only the years that that specific make >model was made are populated to dropdown list #3.
(in other words if there is no make > model for that year, the year is not included in the list)
(i.e. if a Honda delSol was selected, only the years 1993 -1997 should populate and appear in the list)
Any suggestions for the AJAX code or does anything have somehting similar?
Alogn with querying and viewing, I also want to be able to insert/update my data the same way.
Is this possible (using the same drop downs to select the make, model and year then having input boxes ( for technotes, that my technicians can fill in) and  then submit the data to the database for that specific make/model/year)?

Does anyone see a problem with the way the database is setup? Perhaps for the years? (see code snippet for for sql).

Any and as much help would be very much appreciated.


Bradford Giosa

phpMyAdmin SQL Dump
-- version 2.11.3deb1ubuntu1
-- http://www.phpmyadmin.net
--
-- Host: localhost
-- Generation Time: Aug 28, 2008 at 07:11 PM
-- Server version: 5.0.51
-- PHP Version: 5.2.4-2ubuntu5.1
 
SET SQL_MODE="NO_AUTO_VALUE_ON_ZERO";
 
--
-- Database: `vehicle`
--
 
-- --------------------------------------------------------
 
--
-- Table structure for table `maker`
--
 
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `maker` (
  `maker_id` int(10) NOT NULL auto_increment,
  `make` varchar(20) NOT NULL,
  PRIMARY KEY  (`maker_id`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB  DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1 AUTO_INCREMENT=49 ;
 
--
-- Dumping data for table `maker`
--
 
INSERT INTO `maker` (`maker_id`, `make`) VALUES
(1, 'Acura'),
(2, 'Alfa Romeo'),
(3, 'AMC'),
(4, 'Audi'),
(5, 'BMW'),
(6, 'Buick'),
(7, 'Cadillac'),
(8, 'Chevy'),
(9, 'Chevy Truck'),
(10, 'Chevy Van'),
(11, 'Chrysler'),
(12, 'Dodge'),
(13, 'Eagle'),
(14, 'Electromotive'),
(15, 'Ford'),
(16, 'Ford Truck'),
(17, 'Ford Van'),
(18, 'Geo'),
(19, 'GMC'),
(20, 'Harley'),
(21, 'Honda'),
(22, 'Hummer'),
(23, 'Hyundai'),
(24, 'Infiniti'),
(25, 'Isuzu'),
(26, 'Jaguar'),
(27, 'Jeep'),
(28, 'Kia'),
(29, 'Land Rover'),
(30, 'Lexus'),
(31, 'Lincoln'),
(32, 'Mazda'),
(33, 'Mercedes'),
(34, 'Mercury'),
(35, 'Mini'),
(36, 'Mitsubishi '),
(37, 'Nissan'),
(38, 'Oldmobile'),
(39, 'Pontiac'),
(40, 'Porche'),
(41, 'Saab'),
(42, 'Saturn'),
(43, 'Scion'),
(44, 'Subaru'),
(45, 'Suzuki'),
(46, 'Toyota'),
(47, 'Volkwagen'),
(48, 'Volvo');
 
-- --------------------------------------------------------
 
--
-- Table structure for table `model`
--
 
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `model` (
  `model_ID` int(10) NOT NULL auto_increment,
  `maker_ID` int(10) NOT NULL,
  `model` varchar(20) NOT NULL,
  `year` year(4) NOT NULL,
  PRIMARY KEY  (`model_ID`),
  KEY `maker_ID` (`maker_ID`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1 AUTO_INCREMENT=1 ;
 
--
-- Dumping data for table `model`
--
 
 
-- --------------------------------------------------------
 
--
-- Table structure for table `technotes`
--
 
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `technotes` (
  `tech_notes_id` int(10) NOT NULL auto_increment,
  `model_id` int(10) NOT NULL,
  `tech_notes` text NOT NULL,
  PRIMARY KEY  (`tech_notes_id`),
  KEY `model_id` (`model_id`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1 AUTO_INCREMENT=1 ;
 
--
-- Dumping data for table `technotes`
--
 
 
-- --------------------------------------------------------
 
--
-- Table structure for table `years`
--
 
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `years` (
  `year_id` int(4) NOT NULL auto_increment,
  `year` year(4) NOT NULL,
  PRIMARY KEY  (`year_id`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB  DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1 AUTO_INCREMENT=12 ;
 
--
-- Dumping data for table `years`
--
 
INSERT INTO `years` (`year_id`, `year`) VALUES
(1, 2008),
(2, 2007),
(3, 2006),
(4, 2005),
(5, 2004),
(6, 2003),
(7, 2002),
(8, 2001),
(9, 2000),
(10, 1999),
(11, 1998);
 
--
-- Constraints for dumped tables
--
 
--
-- Constraints for table `model`
--
ALTER TABLE `model`
  ADD CONSTRAINT `model_ibfk_1` FOREIGN KEY (`maker_ID`) REFERENCES `maker` (`maker_id`) ON DELETE CASCADE ON UPDATE CASCADE;
 
--
-- Constraints for table `technotes`
--
ALTER TABLE `technotes`
  ADD CONSTRAINT `technotes_ibfk_1` FOREIGN KEY (`model_id`) REFERENCES `model` (`model_ID`) ON DELETE CASCADE ON UPDATE CASCADE;

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