"Convert" PHP to Javascript - php

Question

I'm using CodeIgniter and I have a PHP MySQL Statement in a model:
function getAllDevices() {
$query = $this->db->query("SELECT * FROM Device_tbl ORDER BY Manufacturer");
return $query->result();
}
I then pass this through my controller to my view using:
$this->load->model("get_device");
$data['results'] = $this->get_device->getAllDevices();
And output this into a div using the following PHP:
<div class="hold-cont">
<div class="holder">
<div class="image-hold"><img class="image-icon" src="<?php echo base_url(); ?>assets/images/devices/<?php echo $row->Image; ?>"></div>
</div>
<div class="device-name devicename-txt">
<?php $mod = $row->Model;
$model = str_replace(" ","-",$mod);
?><?php echo($row->Manufacturer. ' ' .$row->Model); ?><br>
</div>
</div><?php } ?>
This currently works fine, however I have now incorporated a searchbox into my page which uses the jQuery function autocomplete and uses the JSON Array of $results
What I need to do is "convert" the PHP into Javascript which will enable the page to be populated using the JSON Array. I then need to be able to use this to pass the selection from the search box into a query which will change the content on the page without reloading it.
How can I go about this? I previously mashed together a way of doing it using the ajax function in jQuery, however this requires a URL which contained a PHP MySql statement which I cannot do now. The idea behind doing it like this is so it only runs 1 SQL Query when the page loads and I cannot change this method.

Answer 1

There is nothing to stop PHP "writing" Javascript.
You would need to build up a suitably formatted Javascript object either manually or by using the json_encode method of PHP (which essentially turns a PHP object into it's JSON notation). Assuming your PHP object is in $row then something like:
<code>
<script language="text/javascript">
var jsObject = <?php json_encode($row); ?>
</script>
</code>
Would give you a Javascript object in jsObject containing keys and values corresponding to the properties of the PHP $row object that you can then work with from Javascript.

Answer 2

json_encode();
json_decode();
Turns PHP arrays into a JSON array and back.
http://php.net/manual/en/function.json-encode.php
They work great.

Answer 3

Your ajax page:
$query = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM my_table WHERE my_field LIKE '%$input%'");
while ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($query)) {
$json = array();
$json['value'] = $row['id'];
$json['name'] = $row['username'];
$json['image'] = $row['user_photo'];
$data[] = $json;
}
header("Content-type: application/json");
echo json_encode($data);
and fetch this echoed json encoded data in your javascript
this is just a rough code, avoid using mysql function.