Call AJAX from a PHP script

Question

I am aware that I can call PHP scripts after processing an AJAX request, but am I able to do it the other way around?

I am writing a dynamically sized navigation component for a new website and I want to refresh the nav every time a new item is added to the Menu.

In my menu class I am currently thinking of using this approach to achieve the effect:

public static function new_item($label, $link) {

    $pos = self::num_items();        

    $DB = Database::getInstance();

    $query = $DB->connection->prepare("INSERT INTO menu VALUES('', :label, :link, :pos )");
    $query->execute(array(':label'=>$label,
                          ':link' =>$link,
                          ':pos'  =>$pos+=1  
                   ));

    ?>

    <script>

        function refreshHeader() {
            $.ajax({
                type: "GET",
                url:  "my url",
                success: function() {
                    // refresh the header here somehow
                }
            });
        }

    </script>

    <?php
}

However, every time this runs I see nothing in my console (even when I put a valid url into my function), will I be able to achieve what I want this way or would I be better processing appending the tab to the document via AJAX and then calling the insert method in my Menu class on the success callback?

The only reason I ask is I feel this way may look neater in comparison to the other way of handling it, although I may be completely wrong.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated - cheers Alex.

@AndreiCristianProdan CURL? Sorry I've been away from web for some time, what benefits would that give me? — Halfpint
– Halfpint, Commented Jun 11, 2014 at 14:40
By "refresh the header" you mean reload the HTML part representing your header, right? If yes then you need to return the new HTML part in your initial $.ajax call and replace the old one with the new one in the success callback. — Sergiu Paraschiv
– Sergiu Paraschiv, Commented Jun 11, 2014 at 14:41

kpp · Accepted Answer · 2014-06-11 14:47:22Z

2

echoing the following line can call out existing javascript functions and you are even able to insert variables (only strings and ints though).

echo "<style onload='jsfunction(\"$vars\")'></style>";

I find this one of the most simple ways to do this quickly.

answered Jun 11, 2014 at 14:47

kpp

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1 Comment

kpp Over a year ago

its invisible and it works :P If I use it I like to throw it in a hidden div on the page, just to be sure.

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 10:26:22Z

0

Oh, I now understand what you want to do, what you need is websockets. When a piece of php code (sever side) is executed, you want something to happen in the browser (client side). Take a look at how live chats are made with javascript and websockets, long polling and other similar methods, that's what you need here.

This helped me a lot What are Long-Polling, Websockets, Server-Sent Events (SSE) and Comet?

edited May 23, 2017 at 10:26

CommunityBot

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answered Jun 11, 2014 at 14:45

Andrei Cristian Prodan

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