Could anyone tell me what could be the problem with using this line of code:

<script type="text/javascript">
var the_select1 = document.getElementById("type_socks");
var sock_selection1 = the_select1.options[the_select1.selectedIndex].value;

function someThing(){

something that references the select value...

}

</script>

The object is being called in the global scope and I keep getting 'null' and 'undefined' values out of error console and firebug...what could possibly be the issues here?

You've probably placed this code before the actual website.
So it tries to get an element with ID type_socks before that even exists.

You should wrap it in a function and call that function on window load.

Originally Posted by Insensus

You've probably placed this code before the actual website.
So it tries to get an element with ID type_socks before that even exists.

You should wrap it in a function and call that function on window load.

Okay, I tried that and it looks something like:

<script type="text/javascript">

window.onload = function(){
the_div = document.getElementById("the_errors");
the_select1 = document.getElementById("type_socks");
sock_selection1 = the_select1.options[the_select1.selectedIndex].value;
the_select2 = document.getElementById("type_polish");
polish_selection1 = the_select2.options[the_select2.selectedIndex].value;
the_select3 = document.getElementById("sock_sel");
sock_selection2 = the_select3.options[the_select3.selectedIndex].value;
the_select4 = document.getElementById("polish_sel");
polish_selection2 = the_select4.options[the_select4.selectedIndex].value;
}

function someThing{

something that references the select tag values
}
</script>

and Firebug as it steps through the code is giving me "" values for the select values...?...even though something is selected and the html looks like: <select><option value="something">...</option></select>..this is pretty frustrating...

Because I can't see your full code I have to suggest the obvious things. :P
Do your <select> tags have an id=""? :P

Originally Posted by Insensus

Because I can't see your full code I have to suggest the obvious things. :P
Do your <select> tags have an id=""? :P

They do have an #id. Here I loaded the shopping cart page to this link:
http://www.ibtestsite.info

I'm not sure how you do it, but you can look at the JavaScript through Firebug. Since the my last post, I've referenced my <select> options like this:

var sock_sel = document.getElementById("type_socks");
var sock_style = sock_sel.options[sock_sel.selectedIndex].innerHTML;

At first it worked, but for some reason, now Firebug is giving me an error...

All I can think of, is adding a doctype, because any document.getElementById fails...