I am aware that I can call PHP scripts after processing an AJAX request, but am I able to do it the other way around?
I am writing a dynamically sized navigation component for a new website and I want to refresh the nav every time a new item is added to the Menu.
In my menu class I am currently thinking of using this approach to achieve the effect:
public static function new_item($label, $link) {
$pos = self::num_items();
$DB = Database::getInstance();
$query = $DB->connection->prepare("INSERT INTO menu VALUES('', :label, :link, :pos )");
$query->execute(array(':label'=>$label,
':link' =>$link,
':pos' =>$pos+=1
));
?>
<script>
function refreshHeader() {
$.ajax({
type: "GET",
url: "my url",
success: function() {
// refresh the header here somehow
}
});
}
</script>
<?php
}
However, every time this runs I see nothing in my console (even when I put a valid url into my function), will I be able to achieve what I want this way or would I be better processing appending the tab to the document via AJAX and then calling the insert method in my Menu class on the success callback?
The only reason I ask is I feel this way may look neater in comparison to the other way of handling it, although I may be completely wrong.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated - cheers
Alex.
echoing the following line can call out existing javascript functions and you are even able to insert variables (only strings and ints though).
echo "<style onload='jsfunction(\"$vars\")'></style>";
I find this one of the most simple ways to do this quickly.
Oh, I now understand what you want to do, what you need is websockets. When a piece of php code (sever side) is executed, you want something to happen in the browser (client side). Take a look at how live chats are made with javascript and websockets, long polling and other similar methods, that's what you need here.
This helped me a lot What are Long-Polling, Websockets, Server-Sent Events (SSE) and Comet?
Related
I'm learning and experimenting with jquery/ajax as I develop a website. I have a page that updates a database. I would like a 'sequence' of responses to display on the screen when the user submits their data (I've seen this done on many other sites).
For instance... user submits form and the page displays:
Received Input
Checking Database - recond number xy
Updating Database
Retrieving Information
etc etc
This is just an example but you get the idea.
I have an ajax call that is initiated on 'click' of the submit button (getFormData just serialises all the form data for me and works fine):
var toSend = getFormData($upgrade_db_form);
var formMessageBox = $("#displayResults");
$.ajax({
url: ajaxurl,
data: {
action: "database_action",
formData : toSend
},
type: 'POST',
dataType: 'TEXT',
beforeSend: function() {
//$form.fadeOut('slow');
formMessageBox.html("starting it up");
},
success: function (data) {
formMessageBox.empty();
formMessageBox.html(data);
error: function (xhr) {
// formMessageBox.html("Oops error!");
}
});
I have a function which gets called by ajax:
function upgrade_database_function() {
echo "testing ";
for($i = 0; $i < 99; $i++) {
echo "percent complete ".$i."%";
}
echo "done ";
die(); // this is required to return a proper result
}
I'm using Wordpress and all the ajax side of things works fine, it passes the form data correctly etc, it's just that I get one long output as though it's cache'ing all the echo's up instead of outputting them in sequence.
I've gone through the jquery ajax documentation and couldn't find how to make it behave the way I want it to. I can live with it the way it is but I think it would look a lot better if I could get it working the way I would like.
Can this be done this way or do I need lots of sequential ajax calls to make it work?
I don't know PHP, but i'm guessing that the echo is just writing to the response buffer... so when all the echos are done the whole response will be returned and you would get the effect that you are seeing... You would need to go with a polling system or something along those lines to get the latest status' from the server and display them I would think... Maybe there is some system in PHP that allows this, but as I said, I don't know PHP.
An Example of Long Polling can be found in this article.
http://www.abrandao.com/2013/05/11/php-http-long-poll-server-push/
WARNING: You may have to do some manual managing of locking of the session in PHP so that your long running call doesn't lock your polling ajax calls: See here:
http://konrness.com/php5/how-to-prevent-blocking-php-requests/
Note that you would likely be wanting to:
create one ajax call that starts the execution of some coded that will take a while... you could put messages that have been generated into a session variable for example in a list of some sort. You would need to lock/unlock the session as mentioned to prevent suspension of AJAX polling calls.
you would create a polling method like in the article that might check the session every 500ms or something to see whether there are any more messages, lock the session, remove those messages and return those messages to the client side and display them.
WARNING: Again, I'm not a PHP person, I may have done this once in my life in PHP (can't remember exactly) but I may be wrong and this may not work, from what I've seen though it looks like it is achievable. Hope this gets you on your way!
I am looking to display the total number of files in a database. To clarify, say I had a website where people could upload pictures of their cars, and I wanted to display a live number of how many pictures there are, what would be the best way to do this? Javascript, php? A mix? I envision a div with a number saying "Total Pictures: x" and where x would be whatever the live total is. I plan on using MySQL to store all the data on the website. Is this even recommended to have something communicate with the server this much? Is there a name for displaying a live number? Thanks!
If you are thinking to use the AngularJS way, you could create a Poller service which polls every second (assuming your /counter.php returns json):
app.factory('Poller', function($http, $timeout) {
var data = { response: {}};
var poller = function() {
$http.get('/counter.php').then(function(r) {
data.response = r.data;
$timeout(poller, 1000);
});
};
poller();
return {
data: data
};
});
Then your controller:
app.controller('CounterCtrl', function(Poller, $scope){
$scope.counter = Poller.data;
});
And finally in your view:
{{counter.response}}
You can read more about $http
Set up a PHP script that queries the database and returns the total file upload count. After that, you can use JavaScript on the page to periodically call the server in a specified interval of time and fetch the count data from your PHP script. Using jQuery and GET, you can do something like this:
jQuery(function($){
setInterval(function(){
$.get( '/counter.php', function(fileUploadCount){
$('#counter').html( fileUploadCount );
});
},20000); // 20 seconds
});
In your HTML:
<p><span id='counter'>xx</span> files have been uploaded so far!</p>
Hope this helps!
How live do you want it to be? Just whenever someone updates the site it's going to have the new value or do you actually want it to update in near real-time?
If it's the latter you have to use Javascript against some kind of API that returns the amount of files in the database. I can't help you with that bit since you are using PHP, but it shouldn't be too hard. Just return some JSON looking something like
{ fileCount: 45020 }
Client-side you have a few options. You have the different javascript frameworks like AngularJS and EmberJS (and many more), as well as just 'plain old' javascript and frameworks like jQuery
The keyword is really AJAX, even if that is just a sort of buzzword for using javascript to make websites dynamic.
I am a fan of using AngularJS because it's easy, but I'll try to give you some pointers for using jQuery first. Note that I have not used jQuery in years now.
The jQuery way
jQuery has a function called jQuery.getJSON(), and according to the documentation you can use that function something like this:
// Assign handlers immediately after making the request,
// and remember the jqxhr object for this request
var jqxhr = $.getJSON( "http://example.com/api/fileCount.json")
.done(function(data) { console.log(data) })
.fail(function() { console.log( "error" ); })
.always(function() { console.log( "complete" ); });
So this means we can call an endpoint and fetch some data using jQuery.
Here is a link to a tutorial about the basics of jQuery by the way.
jQuery makes us able to do things like this:
<div id="divTest1"></div>
<script type="text/javascript">
$("#divTest1").text("Hello, world!");
</script>
When that is executed the div with id "divTest1" will contain the text 'Hello, world!'.
That sounds like something we could use here!
Javascript also has this really nice function called setTimeout(), which allows us to make it call a function later.
This describes how to use jQuery with setTimeout()
As you can see it also shows us jQuery.documentReady(), which is an event that fires when the website is finished loading, so it is a good place to put code we want executed.
The example below shows how to use jQuery to hide a div with id=div after 3 seconds.
jQuery(document).ready(function () {
setTimeout( "jQuery('#div').hide();",3000 ); //hide a div after 3 seconds
});
Combining these things you should be able to make a repeating call that fetches data from your server and then updates a div or another element with the data you have fetched.
Just create a function which uses jQuery.getJSON() to fetch data, and then at the bottom of that add a setTimeout call to run itself in X seconds (however often you want it to update).
In jQuery.documentReady() you call that function the first time the document loads.
And in the .done() bit of the getJSON() call you add the data you got from the server to your div with whatever html you want. I showed you how to use $("#divTest1").text(), but there is also a .html() which acts the same but you should use it to add html to a element.
The angular way would be to use AngularJS's $http to do the same thing, but I wouldn't recommend learning AngularJS until you have a bit of a better grasp on Javascript.
When you do though, I highly recommend it. It's a much better approach than using jQuery.
You can read about AngularJS here
I hope this helps!
I understand there is a method send for xmlHttpRequest objects, but I've been working on this site all day and I'm unable to find any halfway decent tutorials on the subject and my brain feels like mush. Ajax is hard.
What I'm trying to do is send data from one Javascript file back to a PHP script on the server, where the data is simply a string and a small number. Is this possible? Why can't I find a good article on the subject?
tl;dr How do I use the send method to pass a string and a number from a javascript file to a php file?
Why don't you user jQuery or similar library?
Sending a variables with jQuery will be simple as that:
$.post("save.php", { name: "John", time: "2pm" } );
In your save.php file you can handle POST variables as you wish:
$name = $_POST["name"];
$time = $_POST["time"];
You can check it out: http://jquery.com/
I think you are wasting your time trying to make self made methods ...
It's definitely possible. This is a really nicely organized tutorial that walks you through the XmlHttpRequest object, how to set it up, and how to consume it on the server.
The server-side code is PHP, and I'm more of a C# guy, and it made total sense to me. (Maybe I should switch to PHP??).
I hope this helps! Good luck.
EDIT: In response to a previous SO question, I put this jsfiddle together to demo how to use XmlHttpRequest. Hope this also helps.
lots of good links here, so I'm not going to add to that. Just as a sidenote, you're dealing with a light case of ajaxness here :) - typically you'd want to send something back from the server that changes the state of the page in response to what was sent from the page in the first place (in fact one might argue why you need ajax in the first place and not simply post, if the page's not supposed to change - but I can see how there might be situations where you'd want ajax anyway). I'm just saying that because you're going to encounter a lot of content about how to deal with the stuff sent back from the server - just making sure you're aware that's not needed for what you're trying to do (I'm always glad when I know what I can leave out in the first pass ;)
step 1:
get jquery. all you have to do is download the latest file and include it on your page.
step 2:
make 2 files:
somepage.html:
<script type='text/javascript' src='jquery.js'></script>
<script type='text/javascript'>
$.get("someScript.php",
// data to send if you want
{
'someVar' : 'someValue'
},
// receive and do something with response
function(response){
alert(response);
} // function (response)
); // .get()
</script>
someScript.php
<?php
echo $_GET['someVar'] . " response!";
?>
step 3:
upload all your files to your server and go to somepage.html
That's all there is to it. Though, you would generally put that code inside some kind of onclick or whatever, depending on what you want to use ajax for. But the comments in there are pretty self explanatory. jquery is used to make the ajax request, with an example of sending data to the server-side script receiving the request (using GET method). You would do whatever in someScript.php but in this example, it simply echoes back the value you sent. Then jquery takes what someScript.php echoes out and just throws it in a popup.
Using jQuery, you can use the post method:
$.post("test.php", { name: "John", number: 2 } );
Behind the scenes, this uses xmlHttpRequest, have a look at the source to see how they do it.
I'm trying to create a very simple message board (author, text, and date written) that will auto-update every few moments to see if a new message has arrived, and if it has, auto load the latest message(s).
I'm proficient in PHP, but my knowledge in AJAX is lacking.
The way I see it, I would have to create a PHP file called get_messages.php that would connect to a database and get through a $_GET variable return all posts beyond date X, and then I would somehow through jquery call this PHP file every few minutes with $_GET=current time?
Does this sound correct?
How would I got about requesting and returning the data to the web page asynchronously?
You're pretty close, you'll need a PHP script that can query the database for your results. Next, you'll want to transfigure those results into an array, and json_encode() them:
$results = getMyResults();
/* Assume this produce the following Array:
Array(
"id" => "128","authorid" => "12","posttime" => "12:53pm",
"comment" => "I completely agree! Stackoverflow FTW!"
);
*/
print json_encode($results);
/* We'll end up with the following JSON:
{
{"id":"128"},{"authorid":"12"},{"posttime":"12:53pm"},
{"comment":"I completely agree! Stackoverflow FTW!"}
}
*/
Once these results are in JSON format, you can better handle them with javascript. Using jQuery's ajax functionality, we can do the following:
setInterval("update()", 10000); /* Call server every 10 seconds */
function update() {
$.get("serverScript.php", {}, function (response) {
/* 'response' is our JSON */
alert(response.comment);
}, "json");
}
Now that you've got your data within javascript ('response'), you are free to use the information from the server.
Ignore the ASP.NET stuff, this link is a good start:
http://www.aspcode.net/Timed-Ajax-calls-with-JQuery-and-ASPNET.aspx
What you're going to use is a javascript function called setTimeout, which asynchronously calls a javascript function on an interval. From there, jQuery has a fancy function called "load" that will load the results of an AJAX call into a DIV or whatever element you're looking for. There are also numerous other ways to get jQuery to do alter the DOM the way you'd like.
There are a hundred ways to do this, but I'd say avoid writing plain Javascript to save yourself the headache of cross-browser functionality when you can.
I suggest you go for the Simple AJAX Code-Kit (SACK) available on Google code.
I've been using it since before it was on Google code. It's very light and straightforward. It's one js file that you have to include. I've seen it being used in online browser games as well.
http://code.google.com/p/tw-sack/
Example for loading page contents from get_messages.php in a div (if you don't care about the page contents from get_messages.php, and simply want to call the php file, simple remove the ajax.element line):
<script type="text/javascript" src="tw-sack.js"></script>
<script>
var ajax = new sack();
ajax.method = "GET"; // Can also be set to POST
ajax.element = 'my_messages'; // Remove to make a simple "ping" type of request
ajax.requestFile = "get_messages.php";
ajax.setVar("user_name","bobby");
ajax.setVar("other_variables","hello world");
ajax.setVar("time",dateObject.getTime());
ajax.onCompleted = whenCompleted;
ajax.runAJAX();
function whenCompleted(){
alert('completed');
}
</script>
<div id="my_messages">Loading...</div>
You don't need to specify an "ajax.element" if you want to do a simple "ping" type of request and ignore the output of the php file. All you have to do to implement your requirements now is to use a "setTimeout" making the ajax calls.
There are also many other options like:
//ajax.onLoading = whenLoading;
//ajax.onLoaded = whenLoaded;
//ajax.onInteractive = whenInteractive;
No need to learn or include huge frameworks. And you'll get started in no time with tw-sack.
I want to call a PHP function when pressing on a button, sort of like:
<?php
function output(){
// do something
}
?>
<input type="button" value="Enter" onclick="output()"/>
I tried to make something like:
<input type="button" value="Enter" onclick="test.php?execute=1"/>
where test.php is current page and then by php
<? if(isset(&execute)){ echo "Hello"; } ?>
but it doesn't work.
Since PHP runs on the webserver, and buttons (and JavaScript in this case) appear on the client, you have to make an HTTP request to the server.
The easiest way to do this is to use a form. No JavaScript is required. You can add JavaScript (although it should be layered on top of a working non-JS version). Using JavaScript to make an HTTP request without leaving the page is known as Ajax, and generally achieved with the XMLHttpRequest object. There are various libraries such as YUI and jQuery that can do some of the heavy lifting for you.
I think using an AJAX call would do sort of what you are asking. I don't know PHP very well but you can use the following example, and add another variable with the data you are passing in to the server to indicate which function you want to call on the server. On the server you can add some "IF" statements that will call a certain function based on the name passed in and return the result.
Here is what you could use on in your javascript client using the jQuery library as a helper to do the AJAX call:
<input type="button" value="Enter" onclick="output()"/>
<script type="text/javascript">
function output(){
$.ajax({
type: "POST",
url: "submit_data.php",
data: "username=" + "SomeUser"
+ "&email=" + "someEmail#google.com"
+ "&functionName=" + "theFunction1",
success: function(html){
alert('sucess! Result is:' + html);
}
});
}
</script>
and you can use code such as this to catch the data your javascript is passing in. In this example you would want to call this file name as "submit_data.php" to match the javascript above:
<?php
// Variables
$Username = $_POST['username'];
$Email = $_POST['email'];
$FunctionName = $_POST['functionName'];
//Add code here to choose what function to call and echo the result
// If $FunctionName equals 'theFunction1' then execute theFunction1
// If $FunctionName equals 'theFunction2' then execute theFunction2
echo "You called A Page!";
?>
Here I am doing nothing with the "username" and "email" simply grabbing it and storing them into holding variables. But you can easily add extra functionality here, such as checking for a name of a function that you want to run.
PHP is server side and javascript is client side. So I'm not sure if that is really what you want to be doing??
Perhaps you could explain why you want to specifically call a php function?
I googled PHP function from button and found this question on webdeveloper.com
It doesn't use Javascript.
This is PHP you're talking about, not ASP.NET. In PHP, there is no such thing as a button click event. PHP runs entirely on the server and has absolutely no knowledge of client-side events.
Your first try won't work because the PHP code only runs when the page first loads. It does not run when you call a JavaScript function. Your second example won't work because JavaScript and PHP can't talk directly to eachother like that. Trying to directly call a PHP function from JavaScript just doens't make sense. Remember, PHP only runs on the server. By the time you get to the point where JavaScript can run, the PHP code has long since completed its work.
If you want to do something when a button is clicked, you have to explicitly make a request back to the server. You can do this by just POSTing the form as CTphpnwb suggested. Just be aware that this will reload the page and you will have to manually save and restore the page state, e.g. repopulate input boxes. There is no built-in magic that will do this for you.
Alternatively, you can get all AJAXy and do the POST in JavaScript. However, you will have to write the JavaScript to send the request and process the response, and write the server-side PHP code to handle the request. This gets a little awkward to do in a single page.
From : http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/showtopic72353.htm
You cannot directly invoke a PHP function from Javascript this way :
PHP code is executed on the server
HTML / Javascript are interpreted on the client-side.
One the HTML page has been generated and sent to the client (the browser), there is nothing more PHP can do.
One solution would be to use an Ajax request :
Your onclick event would call a Javascript function
This Javascript function would launch an Ajax request : a request sent to the server
The server would then execute some PHP code
And, then, return the result of that execution to the client
And you'd be able to get that result in your Javascript code, and act depending on what was returned by the server.
There are plenty of solutions to do an Ajax request :
You can re-invent the wheel ; not that complex, I should say -- but see the next point
If already using a Javascript framework, like jQuery, Prototype, ... Those provide classes/methods/functions to do Ajax requests
Googling a bit will get you lots of tutorials/examples, about that ;-)