Passing JavaScript Variables from JavaScript to PHP using AJAX - php

Question

I am having some problems with my PHP file. So basically I am working on a project that takes two addresses from the user, then it uses javascript to show their route and once they click submit, I want to pass these two variables to PHP file. I researched a lot and found that I would need AJAX call. The problem I am running into is that AJAX call works perfectly, but when I go to PHP file it throws me an error that variables are not defined. Someone, please explain to me what I am doing wrong here.
JavaScript code:
/* ============================================================================================
Reference: https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/examples/places-autocomplete-directions
==============================================================================================
*/
function initMap() {
var map = new google.maps.Map(document.getElementById('map'), {
mapTypeControl: false,
center: {lat: 41.881832, lng: -87.623177},
zoom: 13
});
new AutocompleteDirectionsHandler(map);
}
/**
* #constructor
*/
function AutocompleteDirectionsHandler(map) {
this.map = map;
this.originPlaceId = null;
this.destinationPlaceId = null;
this.travelMode = 'DRIVING';
var originInput = document.getElementById('origin-input');
var destinationInput = document.getElementById('destination-input');
var submit_button = document.getElementById('button-to-submit');
/*var modeSelector = document.getElementById('mode-selector');*/
this.directionsService = new google.maps.DirectionsService;
this.directionsDisplay = new google.maps.DirectionsRenderer;
this.directionsDisplay.setMap(map);
var originAutocomplete = new google.maps.places.Autocomplete(
originInput, {placeIdOnly: true});
var destinationAutocomplete = new google.maps.places.Autocomplete(
destinationInput, {placeIdOnly: true});
/*this.setupClickListener('changemode-walking', 'WALKING');
this.setupClickListener('changemode-transit', 'TRANSIT');
this.setupClickListener('changemode-driving', 'DRIVING');*/
this.setupPlaceChangedListener(originAutocomplete, 'ORIG');
this.setupPlaceChangedListener(destinationAutocomplete, 'DEST');
this.map.controls[google.maps.ControlPosition.TOP_LEFT].push(originInput);
this.map.controls[google.maps.ControlPosition.TOP_LEFT].push(destinationInput);
this.map.controls[google.maps.ControlPosition.TOP_LEFT].push(submit_button);
/*this.map.controls[google.maps.ControlPosition.TOP_LEFT].push(modeSelector);*/
}
// Sets a listener on a radio button to change the filter type on Places
// Autocomplete.
/* AutocompleteDirectionsHandler.prototype.setupClickListener = function(id, mode) {
var radioButton = document.getElementById(id);
var me = this;
radioButton.addEventListener('click', function() {
me.travelMode = mode;
me.route();
});
}; */
AutocompleteDirectionsHandler.prototype.setupPlaceChangedListener = function(autocomplete, mode) {
var me = this;
autocomplete.bindTo('bounds', this.map);
autocomplete.addListener('place_changed', function() {
var place = autocomplete.getPlace();
if (!place.place_id) {
window.alert("Please select an option from the dropdown list.");
return;
}
if (mode === 'ORIG') {
me.originPlaceId = place.place_id;
} else {
me.destinationPlaceId = place.place_id;
}
me.route();
});
};
AutocompleteDirectionsHandler.prototype.route = function() {
if (!this.originPlaceId || !this.destinationPlaceId) {
return;
}
var me = this;
this.directionsService.route({
origin: {'placeId': this.originPlaceId},
destination: {'placeId': this.destinationPlaceId},
travelMode: this.travelMode
}, function(response, status) {
if (status === 'OK') {
me.directionsDisplay.setDirections(response);
origin_addr = document.getElementById('origin-input').value;
//console.log(origin_addr);
destination_addr = document.getElementById('destination-input').value;
//console.log(destination_addr);
//var place_id = document.getElementById('origin-input');
} else {
window.alert('Directions request failed due to ' + status);
}
});
};
$("#button-to-submit").click(function() {
$.ajax({
url: "Database/save-points.php",
type: "POST", //send it through get method
data: {
origin_address: origin_addr,
destination_address: destination_addr
},
success: function(response) {
//Do Something
console.log("Succeed");
location.href="Database/save-points.php";
},
error: function(xhr) {
//Do Something to handle error
}
});
});
PHP code:
<?php
$origin_address = $_POST['origin_address'];
$destination_address = $_POST['destination_address'];
echo $origin_address;
echo $destination_address;
?>

Answer 1

/* maps.php */
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="fr" lang="fr" dir="ltr">
<head>
<script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.4/jquery.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<style>
/* Always set the map height explicitly to define the size of the div
* element that contains the map. */
#map {
height: 100%;
}
/* Optional: Makes the sample page fill the window. */
html, body {
height: 100%;
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}
.controls {
margin-top: 10px;
border: 1px solid transparent;
border-radius: 2px 0 0 2px;
box-sizing: border-box;
-moz-box-sizing: border-box;
height: 32px;
outline: none;
box-shadow: 0 2px 6px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3);
}
#origin-input,
#destination-input {
background-color: #fff;
font-family: Roboto;
font-size: 15px;
font-weight: 300;
margin-left: 12px;
padding: 0 11px 0 13px;
text-overflow: ellipsis;
width: 200px;
}
#origin-input:focus,
#destination-input:focus {
border-color: #4d90fe;
}
#mode-selector {
color: #fff;
background-color: #4d90fe;
margin-left: 12px;
padding: 5px 11px 0px 11px;
}
#mode-selector label {
font-family: Roboto;
font-size: 13px;
font-weight: 300;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<input id="origin-input" class="controls" type="text"
placeholder="Enter an origin location">
<input id="destination-input" class="controls" type="text"
placeholder="Enter a destination location">
<div id="mode-selector" class="controls">
<input type="radio" name="type" id="changemode-walking" checked="checked">
<label for="changemode-walking">Walking</label>
<input type="radio" name="type" id="changemode-transit">
<label for="changemode-transit">Transit</label>
<input type="radio" name="type" id="changemode-driving">
<label for="changemode-driving">Driving</label>
<input type="submit" id="button-to-submit" value="SAVE !" />
</div>
<div id="map"></div>
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js?key=YOU_KEY&libraries=places"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
// This example requires the Places library. Include the libraries=places
// parameter when you first load the API. For example:
function initMap() {
var map = new google.maps.Map(document.getElementById('map'), {
mapTypeControl: false,
center: {lat: -33.8688, lng: 151.2195},
zoom: 13
});
new AutocompleteDirectionsHandler(map);
}
/**
* #constructor
*/
function AutocompleteDirectionsHandler(map) {
this.map = map;
this.originPlaceId = null;
this.destinationPlaceId = null;
this.travelMode = 'WALKING';
var originInput = document.getElementById('origin-input');
var destinationInput = document.getElementById('destination-input');
var modeSelector = document.getElementById('mode-selector');
this.directionsService = new google.maps.DirectionsService;
this.directionsDisplay = new google.maps.DirectionsRenderer;
this.directionsDisplay.setMap(map);
var originAutocomplete = new google.maps.places.Autocomplete(
originInput, {placeIdOnly: true});
var destinationAutocomplete = new google.maps.places.Autocomplete(
destinationInput, {placeIdOnly: true});
this.setupClickListener('changemode-walking', 'WALKING');
this.setupClickListener('changemode-transit', 'TRANSIT');
this.setupClickListener('changemode-driving', 'DRIVING');
this.setupPlaceChangedListener(originAutocomplete, 'ORIG');
this.setupPlaceChangedListener(destinationAutocomplete, 'DEST');
this.map.controls[google.maps.ControlPosition.TOP_LEFT].push(originInput);
this.map.controls[google.maps.ControlPosition.TOP_LEFT].push(destinationInput);
this.map.controls[google.maps.ControlPosition.TOP_LEFT].push(modeSelector);
}
// Sets a listener on a radio button to change the filter type on Places
// Autocomplete.
AutocompleteDirectionsHandler.prototype.setupClickListener = function(id, mode) {
var radioButton = document.getElementById(id);
var me = this;
radioButton.addEventListener('click', function() {
me.travelMode = mode;
me.route();
});
};
AutocompleteDirectionsHandler.prototype.setupPlaceChangedListener = function(autocomplete, mode) {
var me = this;
autocomplete.bindTo('bounds', this.map);
autocomplete.addListener('place_changed', function() {
var place = autocomplete.getPlace();
if (!place.place_id) {
window.alert("Please select an option from the dropdown list.");
return;
}
if (mode === 'ORIG') {
me.originPlaceId = place.place_id;
} else {
me.destinationPlaceId = place.place_id;
}
me.route();
});
};
AutocompleteDirectionsHandler.prototype.route = function() {
if (!this.originPlaceId || !this.destinationPlaceId) {
return;
}
var me = this;
this.directionsService.route({
origin: {'placeId': this.originPlaceId},
destination: {'placeId': this.destinationPlaceId},
travelMode: this.travelMode
}, function(response, status) {
if (status === 'OK') {
me.directionsDisplay.setDirections(response);
} else {
window.alert('Directions request failed due to ' + status);
}
});
};
/************************************/
$(document).ready( function() {
$("#button-to-submit").click(function() {
origin_addr = $("#origin-input").val();
destination_addr = $("#destination-input").val();
$.ajax({
type: "POST",
url: "maps.exe.php",
data: {
origin_address: origin_addr,
destination_address: destination_addr
},
success: function(response){
alert(response);
window.location.href = 'test-resp.php?'+response;
}
});
return false;
});
});
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js?key=YOUR_KEY&libraries=places&callback=initMap" async defer></script>
</body>
</html>
/* maps.exe.php */
<?php
$origin_address = $_POST['origin_address'];
$destination_address = $_POST['destination_address'];
echo"origin=$origin_address&destination=$destination_address";
?>
/* test-resp.php */
<?php
$origin_address = $_GET['origin'];
$destination_address = $_GET['destination'];
echo"[ origin : $origin_address / destination = $destination_address ]";
?>

Answer 2

I have an example of me passing JS variable to PHP.
JS (url and content are JS variables) :
var data_to_send = {
filepath: ""+url,
filecontent: ""+content
};
jQuery.ajax({
url:"php/dynamic.php",
data: data_to_send,
cache: false,
async: true,
type:'post',
timeout:3000//purely optionnal, check jQuery's Doc to learn more about ajax optionnal parameters/settings
});
In dynamic.php :
<?php
$vars = serialize($_POST); /*easier access*/
$file_path = "../".$vars["filepath"];
$file_content = $var["filecontent"]; /*example of assigning a JS var's value to a PHP var*/
$fh = fopen($file_path, 'w+') or die("could not open file");
fwrite($fh, $file_content."\n");
fclose($fh);
?>
PS: I use jQuery for POST, I dunno the pure javascript way to do the same :/