Possible Duplicate:
JavaScript asynchronous return value / assignment with jQuery
I have the following javascript code, the time.php file has minute and hour output using json_encode function. If I move console.log inside the getJSON function it finds the correct values, however when I move it outside the function it shows as undefined.
var my_hour;
$.getJSON('../scripts/time.php', function(data) {
my_hour = data.hour;
});
console.log(my_hour);
The "$.getJSON" call is asynchronous; the interaction with the server takes time but the browser does not wait for it to finish. Thus, your code after the function call runs immediately, a long time before the callback runs.
it's because it's asynchronous. Ajax request made by $.getJson async call your script and variables my_hour is initialized after your console.log(my_hour).
If you want it to work that way, then you should put console.log in some setInterval.
http://www.w3schools.com/jsref/met_win_setinterval.asp
var interval = setInterval(function(){
if (my_hour != undefined){
console.log(my_hour);
clearInterval(interval);
}
}, 200);
But it's it's not a good practice anyway.., your code should be placed in callback function as mentioned above.
var my_hour;
$.getJSON('../scripts/time.php', function(data) {
my_hour = data.hour;
console.log(my_hour);
});
