I want to provide a simple option for a end user to be able to select a data report based on values in a drop down option box, and then have them appear on a simplistic form (later be updated to select and modify) for data verification.

I have the following code: 
<form action="http://cgi-bin/Inventory.pl" method="get">
    SELECT * FROM 'Inventory' WHERE
    <select style="font-size:11px;" name="field">
        <option value="sernam">Serial Number</option>
        <option value="asset">Asset Tag</option>
        <option value="brno">Branch</option>
    </select>
    <select name="likeEquals" style="font-size:11px;">
        <option value="=">=</option>
    </select>
    <input style="font-size:11px;" type="text" name="searchTerm"/>
    <input style="font-size:11px;" type="submit" name="search" value="
+Search"/>
</form>

[download]

The above works, but I want to modify it to have the text box to be another option/dropdown box. Similar to the following:

<form action="http://webnm/cgi-bin/Inventory.pl" method="get">
    SELECT * FROM 'asset_management' WHERE
    <select style="font-size:11px;" name="field">
        <option value="brno">Branch</option>
    </select>
    <select name="likeEquals" style="font-size:11px;">
        <option value="=">=</option>
    </select>
        <select style="font-size:11px;" name="br">
        <option value="HDQTR">Headquarters</option>
        <option value="CHI">Chicago</option>
        <option value="DNV">Denver</option>
    </select>
    <input style="font-size:11px;" type="submit" name="search" value="
+Search"/>
</form>

[download]

I want the user to be able to pick out the branch they are looking for data from and after select have that automatically provide the data. How can I make an Option box be treated like a text box? I am pretty new to Perl and figure I have to convert a option value into the text value, but I am not sure how to go about this. Would I use the substitution property to accomplish this or something else? If I am subsituting, then how exactly is the option value stored vs the text value? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

In reply to How can I change Option values into Text Values by jaacmmason

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