HTML States Dropdown - Display Selected Value Rather than Text

Question

I am creating an HTML select-option dropdown menu that displays the 50 states in their full spelling with the abbreviations as their underlying value.

When the dropdown is expanded, I want the user to see the full spelling of the states, but to save space I want the value, which is the abbreviation, to be on display in the closed dropdown once a selection has been made.

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For example, the user would see Alabama when they expand the dropdown, but "AL" when they select that state. I have been unable to find a graceful solution to this seemingly simple problem.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

Sorry it looks a bit messy but you can fix it up. I'm giving you the idea! Here's a fiddle.

Oh by the way, it will work on Chrome only.

HTML:

<select id="myddl" name="state" onchange="SelectElement(this.value)" style="visibility:hidden;">
    <option value="AL">Alabama</option>
    <option value="AK">Alaska</option>
    <option value="AZ">Arizona</option>
    <option value="AR">Arkansas</option>
    <option value="CA">California</option>
    <option value="CO">Colorado</option>
    <option value="CT">Connecticut</option>
    <option value="DE">Delaware</option>
    <option value="DC">District of Columbia</option>
    <option value="FL">Florida</option>
    <option value="GA">Georgia</option>
    <option value="HI">Hawaii</option>
    <option value="ID">Idaho</option>
    <option value="IL">Illinois</option>
    <option value="IN">Indiana</option>
    <option value="IA">Iowa</option>
    <option value="KS">Kansas</option>
    <option value="KY">Kentucky</option>
    <option value="LA">Louisiana</option>
    <option value="ME">Maine</option>
    <option value="MD">Maryland</option>
    <option value="MA">Massachusetts</option>
    <option value="MI">Michigan</option>
    <option value="MN">Minnesota</option>
    <option value="MS">Mississippi</option>
    <option value="MO">Missouri</option>
    <option value="MT">Montana</option>
    <option value="NE">Nebraska</option>
    <option value="NV">Nevada</option>
    <option value="NH">New Hampshire</option>
    <option value="NJ">New Jersey</option>
    <option value="NM">New Mexico</option>
    <option value="NY">New York</option>
    <option value="NC">North Carolina</option>
    <option value="ND">North Dakota</option>
    <option value="OH">Ohio</option>
    <option value="OK">Oklahoma</option>
    <option value="OR">Oregon</option>
    <option value="PA">Pennsylvania</option>
    <option value="RI">Rhode Island</option>
    <option value="SC">South Carolina</option>
    <option value="SD">South Dakota</option>
    <option value="TN">Tennessee</option>
    <option value="TX">Texas</option>
    <option value="UT">Utah</option>
    <option value="VT">Vermont</option>
    <option value="VA">Virginia</option>
    <option value="WA">Washington</option>
    <option value="WV">West Virginia</option>
    <option value="WI">Wisconsin</option>
    <option value="WY">Wyoming</option>
</select>

<select id="leaveCode" name="state" onclick="openMyddl();">
    <option value="AL">AL</option>
    <option value="AK">AK</option>
    <option value="AZ">AZ</option>
    <option value="AR">AR</option>
    <option value="CA">CA</option>
    <option value="CO">CO</option>
    <option value="CT">CT</option>
    <option value="DE">DE</option>
    <option value="DC">DC</option>
    <option value="FL">FL</option>
    <option value="GA">GA</option>
    <option value="HI">HI</option>
    <option value="ID">ID</option>
    <option value="IL">IL</option>
    <option value="IN">IN</option>
    <option value="IA">IA</option>
    <option value="KS">KS</option>
    <option value="KY">KY</option>
    <option value="LA">LA</option>
    <option value="ME">ME</option>
    <option value="MD">MD</option>
    <option value="MA">MA</option>
    <option value="MI">MI</option>
    <option value="MN">MN</option>
    <option value="MS">MS</option>
    <option value="MO">MO</option>
    <option value="MT">MT</option>
    <option value="NE">NE</option>
    <option value="NV">NV</option>
    <option value="NH">NH</option>
    <option value="NJ">NJ</option>
    <option value="NM">NM</option>
    <option value="NY">NY</option>
    <option value="NC">NC</option>
    <option value="ND">ND</option>
    <option value="OH">OH</option>
    <option value="OK">OK</option>
    <option value="OR">OR</option>
    <option value="PA">PA</option>
    <option value="RI">RI</option>
    <option value="SC">SC</option>
    <option value="SD">SD</option>
    <option value="TN">TN</option>
    <option value="TX">TX</option>
    <option value="UT">UT</option>
    <option value="VT">VT</option>
    <option value="VA">VA</option>
    <option value="WA">WA</option>
    <option value="WV">WV</option>
    <option value="WI">WI</option>
    <option value="WY">WY</option>
</select>

JAVASCRIPT:

    function SelectElement(valueToSelect)
    {    
        var element = document.getElementById('leaveCode');
        element.value = valueToSelect;
        $('#myddl').attr('style', 'visibility:hidden');

    }

    function openMyddl()
    {
        $('#myddl').removeAttr('style');
        var dropdown = document.getElementById('myddl');
        showDropdown(dropdown);
    }

    showDropdown = function (element) {
        var event;
        event = document.createEvent('MouseEvents');
        event.initMouseEvent('mousedown', true, true, window);
        element.dispatchEvent(event);
    };

CSS:

    #leaveCode{
        position: relative;
        z-index: 10;
        left:-170px;
    }