Dynamically update php variables based on option value

[Hrimthurs]

Hi there,
This is a little hard to explain, but i'll give it a go.
What i need to do is have a <select> dropdown with options, eg.

<select name="finish">
<option  value="" selected="selected">Select a finish</option>
<option value="white">White</option>
<option value="black">Black</option>
</select>

Of which, the selected option is called in as a variable via php and echoed later on in the same page, which dynamically updates when you select a different option.
I thought the code would look something like this

PHP Code:

<?php echo $_GET['finish']; 
echo $finish; ?>

But that method won't update dynamically.
Is anyone able to help?

[phpforfun]

do you mean this?

PHP Code:

<?
if(isset($_GET['finish'])){
     Echo $_GET['finish'];
} Else {
     //code to echo form
}
?>

[John]

I'm not 100% sure what you mean, but if you are using a form, the code from phpforfun will work. If you do not intend on using a form to submit the data, you would need to use JavaScript as well as PHP.

[Jordan]

Do you mean when the user changes selection that the PHP value updates? For that you will need to use AJAX (JavaScript and PHP) or just JavaScript.