jQuery post from php variable - php

Question

I'm in the process of creating a 'drag-and-drop' ordering list, and I grabbed some code for an existing one and I need to modify it to fit my needs. However I do not fully understand exactly what the code is doing in order to modify it correctly.
Basically I have a php variable '$draft_id' that I need to pass into my updateList.php. If I just define $draft_id=0 within updateList.php it works fine, but I need to be able to pass this value in.
The code looks like:
(index.php)
<script type="text/javascript">
$(document).ready(function(){
function slideout(){
setTimeout(function(){
$("#response").slideUp("slow", function () {});
}, 2000);}
$("#response").hide();
$(function() {
$("#list ul").sortable({ opacity: 0.8, cursor: 'move', update:function() {
var order = $(this).sortable("serialize") + '&update=update';
$.post("updateList.php", order, function(theResponse){
$("#response").html(theResponse);
$("#response").slideDown('slow');
slideout();
});
}
});
});
});
</script>
...
<?php
include("connect.php");
$draft_id='0';
$query = "SELECT id, text FROM sort WHERE draft_id =" . $draft_id . " ORDER BY listorder ASC";
$result = mysql_query($query);
while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result, MYSQL_ASSOC))
{
$id = stripslashes($row['id']);
$text = stripslashes($row['text']);
echo "<li id='arrayorder_" . $id . "'>" . $text;
echo "<div class='clear'></div>";
echo "</li>";
}
?>
(updateList.php)
<?php
include("connect.php");
$array = $_POST['arrayorder'];
if ($_POST['update'] == "update"){
$count = 1;
//------------------------------------
$draft_id=$_POST['draft_id'];
//------------------------------------
foreach ($array as $idval) {
$query = "UPDATE sort SET listorder = " . $count . " WHERE id = " . $idval . " AND draft_id=" . $draft_id;
mysql_query($query) or die('Error, insert query failed');
$count ++;
}
echo 'Draft Order Saved!';
}
?>
So basically in the 'updateList.php' I'd like 'draft_id' to be taken from the $_POST array, but I'm not sure how to pass it correctly. Any help would be appreciated.

Answer 1

After some research I've figured out how pass this how it needs to be passed, so I figured I'd share in case anyone else needs it in the future. So my main issue was that I did not understand exactly how the $_POST array was being set.
In the Javascript there is a $.post that is using a variable 'order' which is defined above it. This is where the $_POST array is being passed. So by adding an additional condition you can pass additional variables in the $_POST array.
So I changed:
<script type="text/javascript">
$(document).ready(function(){
function slideout(){
setTimeout(function(){
$("#response").slideUp("slow", function () {});
}, 2000);}
$("#response").hide();
$(function() {
$("#list ul").sortable({ opacity: 0.8, cursor: 'move', update:function() {
var order = $(this).sortable("serialize") + '&update=update';
$.post("updateList.php", order, function(theResponse){
$("#response").html(theResponse);
$("#response").slideDown('slow');
slideout();
});
}
});
});
});
</script>
to:
<?php //this will later be pulled from another page, but for now
$draft_id='0'; //I just set it up for testing purposes.
$_POST['draft_id']=$draft_id;
?>
<script type="text/javascript">
$(document).ready(function(){
function slideout(){
setTimeout(function(){
$("#response").slideUp("slow", function () {});
}, 2000);}
$("#response").hide();
$(function() {
$("#list ul").sortable({ opacity: 0.8, cursor: 'move', update:function() {
//we will add &draft_id='the php variable $draft_id to the order variable'
var order = $(this).sortable("serialize") + '&update=update' + '&draft_id=<?php echo $draft_id; ?>';
$.post("updateList.php", order, function(theResponse){
$("#response").html(theResponse);
$("#response").slideDown('slow');
slideout();
});
}
});
});
});
</script>
This fixed my issue, hopefully this can help someone out in the future if they run into this same issue.