Selecting dynamic default value in <SELECT>

I have a php script which updates user info. I have created an html form, which allows user to edit the values and enter new ones. Now when the form is loaded for the first time, it displays some default values taken from php variables. The works fine but the problem is with tag.

<input type = "text" name = "name" class = "text" value = "<?php echo $user->name; ?>" />

t开发者_运维技巧his works fine..

<select name = "department" value = "<?php echo $user->department; ?>">
    <option>Information Technology</option>
    <option>Computer Science</option>
    <option>Electronics & Communication</option>
    <option>Mechanical Engineering</option>
    <option>Civil Engineering</option>
    <option>Electrical & Electronics Engineering</option>
    <option>M.Tech</option>
    <option>MBA</option>
    <option>MCA</option>
</select>

how can I solve this issue?

---

The Select tag doesn't have a value option. Use this instead:

For example:

<select name = "department">
<option value="IT" <?php if ($user->department == "IT") echo "selected='selected'";?> >Information Technology</option>
<option value="CS" <?php if ($user->department == "CS") echo "selected='selected'";?> >Computer Science</option>
</select>

---

Something like this would work

<select name = "department" value = "<?php echo $user->department; ?>">
    <option value="1" 
        <?= ( $user->department == 1 ? 'selected="selected"' : '' ) ?>>
        Information Technology
    </option>
    ...
</select>

---

This can be solved with one single if statement.

For example:

<select name = "department">
<option value="IT">Information Technology</option>
<option value="CS">Computer Science</option>

<?php if (strlen($user->department)>1 ) 
echo "<option value="."$user->department"."selected='selected >"."$user->department"."</option>";?> 
</select>