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using php to set form values

I have a php file that includes a form with checkboxes and other fields. I need a way to use php to check the boxes based on variables. I do this with lists using the following:

<option value="Houses" <?php if ($buildingtype=="Houses") echo "selected";?>Houses</option>

I need something equivalent for checkboxes. Here is what I have tried (and what does not work):

<input name="Sales" type="checkbox" value="Yes" <?php if ($sales=="Yes") echo "checked";?>>Sales

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Steve Bink

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SOLUTION

JPM

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termlimit

since you are not dealing with any variables in your string PHP is actually faster if you do the following:
<input name="Sales" type="checkbox" value="Yes"<?php if ($sales=="Yes") echo ' checked="checked"'; ?> />Sales

Only outputting 'checked' doesn't make the form get checked. You need checked="checked" to make it work.

The best way to make this work is to actually create a simple class that handles outputting all of your form elements. This way you can simply call a static method in the class to output your checkbox. This method is a lot easier to work with and less hassle overall.

Class HTML {
 
     public static function checkbox($name, $value, $checked = false, $extra) {
         // Here you build the output of the form field you need.
     }
}

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