get back a variable from ajax to view - php

Question

i am new to php,jquery and to programming itself.I have a model called Appoinments .I am calling an ajax query from a text field to a controller action 'appoinments/loaddates'.The ajax query executed correctly. But from the ajax action i want to get some array of variables to the view.Can somebody help me please how to do it?
my view
echo CHtml::activehiddenField($model,'doctor',array(
'onchange'=>CHtml::ajax(array(
'type'=>'POST',
'url'=> CController::createUrl('loadDates'),
'update'=>'#nick_result',
'dataType'=>'json' ,
'select'=>"js:function(event, ui) {
$('#nick_result').val(ui.item.x);
}"
))
));
<div id="nick_result">
</div>
my controller
$arr[] = array(
'x'=>$x, //this I need in view
'y'=>$y,
'z'=>$z,
'p'=>$q,
);
echo CJSON::encode($arr);
how to get the $x value as a variable in php as it is used by the datepicker in my form. Any help appreciated.One thing to notice is that I just need a variable to get updated, not a model attribute. I just want to get that outside of the javascript. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

To achieve this you need to use ajax callback in your view. For example:
echo CHtml::activehiddenField($model, 'doctor', array(
'onchange'=>CHtml::ajax(array(
'type'=>'POST',
'url'=> CController::createUrl('loadDates'),
'update'=>'#nick_result',
'dataType'=>'json',
'select'=>"js:function(event, ui) { $('#nick_result').val(ui.item.x); }"
'success'=>'js:function(data){
//do here what you want to do. Your json encoded array will be passed as data
}'
))
));
I recommend to use firebug for this, in console you can see what you send to ajax action in your post/get and your ajax callback (data).