Having trouble returning php data to jQuery ajax call

Question

It seems this type of question has been asked and answered a number of time before, but I just can't seem to get this working, even after hours of trying different things.

Here's my ajax:

$.ajax({
type: 'POST',
url: 'scripts/manageHomePage.php',
//datatype: 'json',
data: dataString,
cache: false,
success: function(response) {
    //$.parseJSON(response);

    alert('response: ' + response);
    //alert('Got a successful return: ' + response.result);
    //window.location.href="documents/" + response.result;
},
error: function(response) {
    alert ('There was an error creating the archive: ' + response);
}
});

As you can see I've also been trying to use json to do this. Here's the php code that returns the data:

if ($zipArchive) {
$log->lwrite('passing to ajax function: ' . $archiveName);
//$return['error'] = true;
//$return['result'] = $archiveName;
return $archiveName;
} else {
$log->lwrite('Error creating zip file - not passed to form');
//$return['error'] = false;
//$return['result'] = 'There was an error creating the zip file';
return 'error';
}

Again, more attempts at json. Anyway, the variable $archiveName that the php script is returning is correct. My js alert in the success parameter of $.ajax shows "response: "

What am I doing wrong?

try to console.log response instead of alerting to see if its coming through clean and populated. — Rooster
– Rooster, Commented Apr 11, 2012 at 1:17
Thanks for the quick reply! How do I do that? I'm using Aptana Eclipse for my IDE. — marky
– marky, Commented Apr 11, 2012 at 1:21
I figured out how to do it. I'm getting "undefined" in the console as well. — marky
– marky, Commented Apr 11, 2012 at 1:26
sorry i overlooked you were returning, not echoing your response on an ajax call, thats why you're getting undefined. — Rooster
– Rooster, Commented Apr 11, 2012 at 2:03

Hassaan · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-03 10:48:55Z

2

You need to echo back a response from that function, not return it.

edited Aug 3, 2016 at 10:48

Hassaan

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answered Apr 11, 2012 at 2:02

Rooster

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2 Comments

marky Over a year ago

Great! That worked! But can someone explain to me why echo works, but return doesn't?

Rooster Over a year ago

its because you need to output content on an ajax call, return in that instance just exits the function.

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