Hello, For a web application we need to display a lot of values like "Case Numbers" or "ACT" or "LAW" in drop downs. Since the values are in thousands and they come from a MySQL database table, it is not good to generate these DDLs pre-populated from the server using PHP everytime. We can not use Gmail style AJAX text box here that displays the filtered email id on keydown. We have to display all the available values in a DropDown or List Box. This is the requirement. I think when this web page gets loaded, a javascript code should populate these DDLs from the browser cached .xml file. And if the file does not exist in the browser cache it should be download it from the server and populate the DDLs. And if the server version of the XML file is newer than the Browser Cached version it should be downloaded from the server and populate the DDLs. Kindly let me know if there exists a script for the same? Or if this approach is not correct please advice. Regards
first of all, populating thousands of entries inside drop down box will take longer time and the page even after loaded will be in-accessible till drop down population is not over. best thing would be to use autosuggest in my opinion.
I understand that populating thousands of values is not good idea, but unfortunately these values must be visible to the user. A must have requirement.