Javascript won't post variable - php

Question

Why does this code work fine in the unit test, but not in the page? I have Firebug and FirePHP in place and can see the variable pass just fine if I hard code it, the operation is passing an int just fine in the unit test, but I've tried parseInt, Math.floor, and many other wacky methods and the value for statementCount simply won't post.
The ajax:
//polling code
var statementCount = 0;
(function poll(){
setTimeout(function(){
$.ajax({ url: "RROO_update.php",
type: "POST",
data: {'meetID': 2176, 'statementCount': statementCount},
success: function(data){
if(data.length > 0){
var statements = JSON.parse(data);
//reset the statement count
statementCount = statementCount + statements.length;
$(this).actplug_RROO('formatReturns', statements, userID);
poll();
}
},
error: function(){
poll();
},
});
}, 5000);
})();
and the php:
<?php
include("../inc/variables.php");
error_reporting (E_ALL ^ E_NOTICE);
require_once('../FirePHPCore/FirePHP.class.php');
require_once('../FirePHPCore/fb.php');
$firephp = FirePHP::getInstance(true);
ob_start();
$MeetingID = $_POST['meetID'];
$StatementCount = (int)$_POST['statementCount'];
$firephp-> log($StatementCount, 'Statement count passed in' );
$Finished = FALSE;
while($Finished == FALSE){
$MeetingStats = mysql_query("SELECT RROO_UPDATE.*, MEMBER.UserName, MEMBER.UserImage FROM RROO_UPDATE JOIN MEMBER ON RROO_UPDATE.MemberID = MEMBER.MemberID WHERE MeetingID = $MeetingID ORDER BY TimeStamp DESC", $DB_Connection);
$MyNum = mysql_num_rows($MeetingStats);
$firephp->log($MyNum, 'Row Query');
if($MyNum > $StatementCount){
$Returns = array();
while($Return = mysql_fetch_array($MeetingStats)){
array_push($Returns, $Return);
}
$NewReturns = array();
$NewStats = $MyNum - $StatementCount;
$firephp->log($NewStats, 'heres the new stats count');
for($i = 0; $i < $NewStats; $i++){
array_push($NewReturns, $Returns[$i]);
}
$Here = count($NewReturns);
$firephp->log($Here, 'The length of the new returns array');
$Finished = TRUE;
echo json_encode($NewReturns);
}
else{
sleep(3);
}
}
?>
Like I said, it comes back fine on the unit test which is the same in all the aspects I can see (I actually copy pasted it into the page) the only difference being that the postback is routed differently on the page (to the plugin) but I've messed around with callback to no avail. Is there some reason the statementCount won't reset and Post in this code?

Answer 1

I don't think that statementCount is defined inside the callback, only in the function which executes the ajax call.
Here is a question and answer which should help you do what you want.