if statement for 2 variables - assistance needed

Hi There,
I have a form where a user can select an item from a pull down menu or if the item is not listed they can type it in via a text box. There are three of these (pull down / text input sections) in the form. I need the variable of ether (pulldown or text) (depending on which they select) to be inserted into the same column in the DB. For example, if I chose an item from the pulldown menu I need pulldown variable to be insert into the DB and vice versa with the text input. I tried writing an if statement but I did not find the results I was looking for.

What's the best way to approach this issue? Any help on this matter would be great. Thanks - MD

You should post some of the code then we can probably figure out what is going on.

if (empty($_POST['route_other']) )
{
$route_sl = ($_POST['route_sl']);

} else {
$route_other = "'" . $_POST['route_other'] . "'";

}

This works. The problem now is I need to change the variable name to $route. For example, I need to change route_sl to route and route_other to route so the DB can see it.

nevermind - i figured it out