adding dropdown menus to UI Tabs

adding dropdown menus to UI Tabs

I've been using the UI tabs quite extensively in an app but I now have a feature request to add a dropdown menu to appear in a tab, where a user can make a selection before the contents of the tab is loaded.  What is the best way to go about doing this?  I've got Filament Groups Ipod menu semi-working with the tab but I don't know how to go about preventing the tab from being selected until a menu selection has been made.