HTML page displaying PHP code instead of running it

Question

In my HTML web page I want to make my dropdown menu pull options from a MySQL database, so I embedded PHP inside. However, when you select the drop down it is saying '.$id.' literally rather than a name that it should.

<label>Test Dropdown</label>
<select class="form-control" name="client">
    <option value="pick">CHOOSE</option>
    <?php
        $dbhost = '#########';
        $dbuser = '#########';
        $dbpass = '$$$$$$$$$$$$$$';
        $dbdata = '############';
        $conn = mysql_connect($dbhost, $dbuser, $dbpass);

        if ($conn->connect_error) {
            die("Connection failed: " . $conn->connect_error);
        }

        $sql = "SELECT * FROM client";
        mysql_select_db('######');
        $result = mysql_query($sql, $conn);

        if (mysql_num_rows($result) > 0) {
            while ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)) {
                $id = $row['fname'];
                echo '<option value="'.$id.'">'.$id.'</option>';
            }
        }
    ?>
</select>

Use MySQLI or PDO, see [this](https://stackoverflow.com/a/60496/2595450) — Spoody, Jan 28 '18 at 04:20
that still doesn't explain why it isn't echoing out the option form in full and why the html displays the literal php code — Jordan Farris, Jan 28 '18 at 04:22
Yes I know, but I'm not helping with an unsecure code, and I don't think anyone will, more details [here](https://stackoverflow.com/a/12860046/2595450) — Spoody, Jan 28 '18 at 04:24
Are you running a `.html` page or `.php` one ? Double check the extension . — Ashraf, Jan 28 '18 at 04:32
its .html. even if the php is embeded inside html does it have to be .php? — Jordan Farris, Jan 28 '18 at 04:36

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 28 '18 at 05:11

You are getting that output i.e .$id. that's because you have put it into inverted comma, so it is taking it as an string rather than variable so try this:

 echo '<option value="'.$id.'">.$id.</option>';

instead of

echo '<option value="'.$id.'">'.$id.'</option>';

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 28 '18 at 06:05

If your website can serve actual .php files, but the php code doesn't execute in your .html or .htm , chances are you need to add php support at the webserver level.

Most hosting plans are usually on a LAMP stack and support PHP. If you have such a hosting plan, this can be done using an .htaccess file or through the CPanel/Plesk interface. Refer to this blog post that explains how to test if php works on your server and get it working within .html or .htm files.
However, if you have a custom webserver or an IIS server, you may need to install and configure PHP support before you can even enable it for html files.)

HTML page displaying PHP code instead of running it

2 Answers2