Select Attribute Does Not Default to blank / null / unselected

ℹ️ Support
1

I am using phpList v3.2.6.

When creating a subscription (subscribe) sign-up page:

  • using a SELECT attribute
  • marking is as not required
    … the subscription page will display / default to the first item of the attribute, instead of a blank or unselected. Also, once an item in select there is no way to unselect this attribute.
2

@LeftPinkie See this section from config_extended.php

// empty value prefix. This can be used to identify values in select attributes
// that are not allowed to be selected and cause an error "Please enter your ..."
// by using a top value that starts with this string, you can make sure that the
// selects do not have a default value, that may be accidentally selected
// eg. "-- choose your country"
define('EMPTY_VALUE_PREFIX', '--');

You need to add another value to your select attribute that begins with “–” and make it the first to be displayed.

3

Don’t forget to add the above to your config.php file. :wink:

4

Actually I can add a default value in the admin page under Configu => Subscribe pages => Edit

-or-

add the following line to my config.php file:
define( 'EMPTY_VALUE_PREFIX' , '--' ) ;

Either method I still need to add a record to my database table listattr_... and the record’s name has to match my default value. Thank you @duncanc for this reminder.

That solves my initial question but leads me to another question / dilemma…

The select attribute I am offering is a list of countries. I am using the ISO 3166-1 country code list and importing it into my table listattr_country, with the ISO-3166-1 numeric code as the record id. So when I go and add a record for the default value, I am giving it a record id of 0. I need this record id to be 0 so that I can query if a valid country was selected. Since the column id is the primary key, any DBA will tell you it is bad to have the id of 0. MySQL will complain if I do a table integrity check. I guess I could give it some ridiculously high record id so ISO-3166 would never reach in the future. Or, I could modify the phpList code so that default value is not inserted into the database… but then I won’t be compatible with future upgrades.

5

@LeftPinkie You seem to be confusing having a default value with not entering a value at all. phplist uses the EMPTY_VALUE_PREFIX to decide whether a value has been selected or not. Then what happens depends on whether the attribute is required or not.

6

If I set EMPTY_VALUE_PREFIX without a valid record of the same name in my database table, the first value shows up on the selection not the empty value. Are you saying that if I set the EMPTY_VALUE_PREFIX and have a matching record in the database and set the attribute to not required, then the app will not insert this attribute?

7

@LeftPinkie More or less. I suggest that you try this out for yourself to see how it works.