PHP + Javascript parent function not getting called - php

Question

Alright I've been trying to find an answer to this for hours already but I couldn't resolve it myself.
I'm trying to call a Javascript parent function from a PHP function, however, it is not getting called.
When using the onclick method onclick='parent.dosomething(); everything seems to work fine but if I try to call the function by echo'ing it out, it would just fail for some reason.
echo "<script>parent.reloadprofmessages();</script>"; //this is what is not getting called
Here's the PHP function:
function checkactivity($username)
{
//These are just queries being executed (irrelevant)
$querystats = "SELECT users.fullname, activity.id, activity.sender, activity.receiver, activity.type, activity.dateposted, activity.seen, activity.related FROM activity, users WHERE activity.receiver = '$username' && activity.seen = '0' ORDER BY id DESC LIMIT 1";
$resultstats = mysql_query($querystats);
$num_stats = mysql_num_rows($resultstats);
$rowactivity = mysql_fetch_assoc($resultstats);
//End of queries
if($num_stats > 0) //If there are registries
{
$user = $_SESSION['Username'];
$activity_date = $rowactivity["dateposted"];
$activity_type = $rowactivity["type"];
$activity_sender = $rowactivity["sender"];
$timeactivity = strtotime( "$activity_date" );
$actualtime = time();
$timetoseconds = $actualtime - $timeposted;
$timetominutes = floor($timepassedtoseconds/60);
if($timetominutes < 2)
{
if($activity_sender != $user)
{
if($activity_type == 1) //Messages
{
echo "<script>parent.reloadprofmessages();</script>"; //this is what is not getting called
}
}
}
}
}
And this is my Javascript function at the parent page:
function reloadprofmessages()
{
$('#friendrequests').load('showprofmessages.php?username=<?php echo $actualuser; ?>').fadeIn("slow");
} //refreshes messages
I pressed CTRL + Shift + I in Google Chrome to get to the developer tools, Network > page that does the request that calls the PHP function > Preview and this was what I received:
<script>parent.reloadprofmessages();</script>
However, the function is not getting called.
Resolving this would solve me a lot of problems, to me it is actually still a mystery to know why it doesn't work since it has worked in other cases.
Thank you for your help in advance.

Answer 1

It's not a good idea to fetch javascript and execute it with AJAX. What I would suggest is to firstly change your PHP to this:
if($activity_type == 1) //Messages
{
echo "1";
}
else {
echo "0";
}
Then change your Javascript to this:
function reloadprofmessages()
{
var can_reload = $.ajax({ url: "showprofmessages.php?username=<?php echo $actualuser; ?>" });
if (can_reload) {
parent.erloadprofmessages();
}
}
Hope that helps

Answer 2

Add the type attribute for script tag
echo "<script type='text/javascript' >parent.reloadprofmessages();</script>";
and remember to define the javascript function before this line

Answer 3

So here is what was wrong: (Showing errors)
function checkactivity($username)
{
//These are just queries being executed (irrelevant)
$querystats = "SELECT users.fullname, activity.id, activity.sender, activity.receiver, activity.type, activity.dateposted, activity.seen, activity.related FROM activity, users WHERE activity.receiver = '$username' && activity.seen = '0' ORDER BY id DESC LIMIT 1";
$resultstats = mysql_query($querystats);
$num_stats = mysql_num_rows($resultstats);
$rowactivity = mysql_fetch_assoc($resultstats);
//End of queries
if($num_stats > 0) //If there are registries
{
$user = $_SESSION['Username'];
$activity_date = $rowactivity["dateposted"];
$activity_type = $rowactivity["type"];
$activity_sender = $rowactivity["sender"];
$timeactivity = strtotime( "$activity_date" ); //$timeactivity was not being used
$actualtime = time();
$timetoseconds = $actualtime - $timeposted; //$timeposted doesn't even exist, in other words I wasn't even converting the $activity_date timestamp to time.
$timetominutes = floor($timepassedtoseconds/60);
if($timetominutes < 2)
{
if($activity_sender != $user)
{
if($activity_type == 1) //Messages
{
echo "<script>parent.reloadprofmessages();</script>"; //this was not the correct way of calling a function from the parent page.
}
}
}
}
}
About the Javascript function:
This is what I ended with:
var auto_refresh = setInterval(
function reloadstring()
{
$.get("checknewactivity.php?vprofile=<?php echo $actualuser; ?>", function(activity){
if (activity == 1)
{
$('#profcommentsdiv').load('showprofmessages.php?vprofile=<?php echo $actualuser; ?>').fadeIn("slow");
}
});
}, 1000); // refresh every 1000 milliseconds
And now it works, thank you for your help, I really appreciate it, and as usual, I always get to a safer solution after asking it here.