If you go the route of dynamic-population via AJAX you can avoid the 'too much
data' problem. Initially don't put any data in the Select list, but once the
user starts typing in the filter box do an AJAX query to pull only the filtered
values into the Select list. The form should load quickly initially since
there isn't any data to load, and the filter queries should be pretty quick
(depending on your data set and the filter being used) because the data will
always be filtered.
Alternatively, you could do a multi-step approach: show a paginated list of
doctor's names, with links to each letter of the alphabet to jump to last name
at the top. The user browses through the list and selects the doctor they
want. Then they are taken to your form page with the doctor's name put into a
hidden form field, and they can fill out the rest of the data there.
Byron
I'm not familair with AJAX, but I will look up that route as it seems to
be be pretty much exactly what I want. I am also trying the paginated
approach right now. I am having trouble passing variables around the
different functions, though. (have I mentioned I'm not a strong perl
programmer?) I may ask about that later.
Thanks Byron.
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