calling php code with ajax results in an error - php

Question

I'm trying to call some php code using ajax:
$(document).ready(function() {
$("#email_address").on("keypress", function() {
request = $.ajax({
url: '../verify_email.php',
data: {email: $("#email_address").val(),
submitted: true},
type: 'post'
});
request.done(function(response) {
//fooling around to see if this works
if(response) {
alert("valid email");
} else {
alert("invalid email");
}
});
request.error(function(response) {
alert("an error occurred");
});
});
});
However, the request.error function runs. I'm not too sure why. Here is the php code:
<?php
if(isset($_POST['submitted']) and isset($_POST['email'])) {
if(filter_var($_POST['email'], FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) {
echo 'true';
} else {
echo 'false';
}
}
?>
Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

ugh, noob mistake. i had set the php url to be relative to the .js file instead of to the web page. it was supposed to be:
request = $.ajax({
url: 'verify_email.php'
instead of
request = $.ajax({
url: '../verify_email.php',
i figured it out with the use of Chrome's web inspector . i learned two new things today: what the url has to be relative to and how to use Chrome's web inspector. thanks all for your help

Answer 2

If your url work fine, in php try to return json ;)
<?php
$return = false;
if(isset($_POST['submitted']) and isset($_POST['email'])) {
if(filter_var($_POST['email'], FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) {
$return = true;
} else {
$return = false;
}
}
header('Content-Type: application/json');
echo json_encode(array('result' => $return));
die;
?>
And in javascript try:
request.done(function(response) {
//fooling around to see if this works
if(response.result) {
alert("valid email");
} else {
alert("invalid email");
}
});