PHP set selected option that I submitted in post from database

getActorsList() is a method from db_functions. It gets names from database. The option echo works perfectly for them.

<?php
    include("scripts/db_functions.php");
    include("scripts/queries.php");
?>

<form method="post" accept-charset="utf-8">
    <h2>When does the show start where
        <label>
            <select name="who">
                <?php
                echo '<option value="0">---Choose an actor---</option>';
                $names = getActorsList();
                while ($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($names)) {
                    echo '<option value="'.$row["name"].'">'.$row["name"].'</option>';
                }
                mysqli_free_result($names);
                ?>
            </select>
        </label>
    is playing?
    <input class="forminput" type="submit" value="Search" style="display: inline-block">
    </h2>
</form>

<table>
    <tr>
        <th>Channel</th>
        <th>Starts</th>
        <th>Title</th>
        <th>More information</th>
    </tr>

    <?php
        $dbrow = query1();

        while ( ($oneRow = mysqli_fetch_assoc($dbrow))!= null) {
            echo '<tr>';
            echo '<td>' . $oneRow["channelName"] . '</td>';
            echo '<td>' . $oneRow["start"] . '</td>';
            echo '<td>' . $oneRow["title"] . '</td>';
            echo '<td>' . $oneRow["moreInfo"] . '</td>';
            echo '</tr>';
        }

    ?>

</table>

queries.php:

<?php
function query1() {
    include_once("db_functions.php");

    if (!($conn = db_connect())) {
        return false;
    }

    if (empty($_POST["who"])) {
        $clear_who = "";
    } else {
        $clear_who = htmlspecialchars($_POST["who"]);
    }

    $result = mysqli_query($conn, "SELECT * FROM broadcasts WHERE broadcasts.title IN (SELECT shows.title FROM shows, roles WHERE shows.title = roles.title AND shows.moreInfo = roles.moreInfo AND roles.name = '".$clear_who."')");

    if (!$result) {
        die(mysqli_error($conn));
    }

    mysqli_close($conn);
    return $result;
}

My only problem is when I choose an actor’s name and I click on submit, the selected option is always the first one. How can I change the selected option, that I last sent in POST method?

>Solution :

You can compare the current name in the row to the posted value (if it exists)

Change

echo '<option value="'.$row["name"].'">'.$row["name"].'</option>';

to

echo '<option value="'.$row["name"].'"'.(isset($_POST["who"]) && $_POST["who"] == $row["name"] ? " selected " : "").'>'.$row["name"].'</option>';

This will add the selected attribute to the option if the name the option is for matches the posted value.