POST data through AJAX and set as variable - php

Question

I am not very familiar with javascript especialy when it comes to functions and ajax. I am trying to get some data from another php page and have it put into a div. When I ever i load the page nothing comes up.
My ultimate goal is to get the data into a php or javascript but first need to figure out how to get / receive data.
here is the php code of feedupdate.php
<?php
require "dbc.php";
$function = $_POST['function'];
switch($function)
case('initiate'):
$search="SELECT * FROM Feedtest ORDER BY id DESC";
$request = mysql_query($search);
$mostrecent= mysql_fetch_array($request);
$mostrecentid = $mostrecent['id']
echo json_encode($mostrecentid);
break;
case('update'):
$search="SELECT * FROM Feedtest ORDER BY id DESC";
$request = mysql_query($search);
$update= mysql_fetch_array($request);
$updateid = $update['id'];
echo json_encode($updateid);
break;
?>
here is the ajax
<div id="datacheck"></div>
<script>
$(document).ready(function() {
$.ajax({
type: 'POST'
url: 'feedupdate.php'
data: {'function': 'initiate',},
datatype: "json"
success: function(msg) {
$('#datacheck').html(msg);
}
});
}); // document ready

Answer 1

There is a typo in the ajax jquery code
success: fuction(msg) {...
it should be spelled "function".This typo might be the problem , plus there should be switch case for
getState
in your php code.

Answer 2

You are passing getState in data from JavaScript while in PHP you do not have a similar case to match in switch statement. Instead of getState pass update or initiate.
If you just want to check either AJAX call is working or not write
echo "something message"; exit();

Answer 3

In your AJAX you are passing data back to the PHP script:
data: {'function': 'getState'},
But in your php script you don't have a case statement that matches getState you only have initiate and update. So you can either write code to support getState or you can pass in either initiate or update to the data parameter.
Also watch out for trailing comma's. They won't work in IE. You should remove the comma after 'getState' on the data line.
You are also missing a comma after type, url, and datatype
$(document).ready(function() {
$.ajax({
type: 'POST', // add comma
url: 'feedupdate.php', //add comma
data: {'function': 'initiate'}, // remove comma
dataType: "json", // add comma
success: function(msg) {
$('#datacheck').html(msg);
}
});
});
Alos you can look at using the shorthand method $.post docs