Joomla 3.x Get Module Parameters Within Ajax Call - php

Question

I am playing around with a custom build module in Joomla 3.x that uses Ajax to display some real-time data. Within the function executed by the Ajax call I need to access the module parameters and I'm not sure how to do this. Normally, I could just put $var = $params('paramName', 'default') in the module PHP file to get the param but this is not available when the call is made by Ajax. This is my template code that executes the Ajax call:
<script type="text/javascript">
jQuery(document).ready(function() {
jQuery.get('index.php?option=com_ajax&module=whatsinport&method=getWhatsInPort&format=json', function(data) {
console.log(data);
var response = jQuery.parseJSON(data);
This is the code in my helper.php class:
class modWhatsInPortHelper {
public static function getWhatsInPortAjax()
{
$results = array();
$results['status'] = 'ok';
$app = JFactory::getApplication();
$serverName = $app->getCfg('mod_whatsinport_serverName');
$dbName = $app->getCfg('mod_whatsinport_dbName');
$dbUser = $app->getCfg('mod_whatsinport_dbUser');
$dbPwd = $app->getCfg('mod_whatsinport_dbPwd');
$connectionInfo = array( "Database"=>$dbName, "UID"=>$dbUser, "PWD"=>$dbPwd, "ReturnDatesAsStrings"=>true);
$conn = sqlsrv_connect( $serverName, $connectionInfo);
The $app->getCfg does not appear to do what I want - I am guessing it is only used for Joomla config settings. I also tried:
$app = JFactory::getApplication();
$params = $app->getParams();
$serverName = $params->get('mod_whatsinport_serverName');
$dbName = $params->get('mod_whatsinport_dbName');
$dbUser = $params->get('mod_whatsinport_dbUser');
$dbPwd = $params->get('mod_whatsinport_dbPwd');
But this didn't work either. I forgot to include my module config file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<extension type="module" version="3.1.0" client="site" method="upgrade">
<name>WhatsInPort</name>
<author>Chris Krohn</author>
<version>1.0.0</version>
<description>Displays a list of current vessels in port.</description>
<files>
<filename>mod_whatsinport.xml</filename>
<filename module="mod_whatsinport">mod_whatsinport.php</filename>
<filename>index.html</filename>
<filename>helper.php</filename>
<filename>tmpl/default.php</filename>
<filename>tmpl/index.html</filename>
</files>
<config>
<fields name="params">
<fieldset name="basic">
<field name="mod_whatsinport_serverName" type="text" default="" label="Server Name" description="NETBIOS name of the database server to connect to." />
<field name="mod_whatsinport_dbName" type="text" default="" label="Database Name" description="Name of the database with the HMLOG table." />
<field name="mod_whatsinport_dbUser" type="text" default="" label="Database User" description="User name to login to the server with." />
<field name="mod_whatsinport_dbPwd" type="password" default="" label="Database Password" description="Password to login to the server with." />
</fieldset>
</fields>
</config>
</extension>

Answer 1

Figured it out. Should be:
$app = JFactory::getApplication();
$module = JModuleHelper::getModule('mod_whatsinport','WhatsInPort');
$params = new JRegistry($module->params);
$serverName = $params->get('mod_whatsinport_serverName');
$dbName = $params->get('mod_whatsinport_dbName');
$dbUser = $params->get('mod_whatsinport_dbUser');
$dbPwd = $params->get('mod_whatsinport_dbPwd');

Answer 2

Retrieve data of a parameter within the getjax() method.
public static function getAjax(){
$app = JFactory::getApplication();
$module = JModuleHelper::getModule('my_module');
$params = new JRegistry($module->params);
return $params ->get('myparams');
}