More compact way to write ajax queries - javascript

I have been writing many web apps with php & mysql & jquery & bootstrap and now it's time address this problem. How to write shorter ajax queries(posting) ?
If I want to write code that works and takes care of many problems, it's too long for every ajax call.
Is there a better way or some library / wrapper that makes the code SHORTER and FASTER to write, but does atleast all these stuff
I looked popular axios, but it seems even worse
//JUST an example code, too complicated
var $btnStatusElem = $("#passwordreset").button('loading');
$.ajax({
type: "POST",
cache: false,
url: "pwreset.php",
data: postdata
success: function(data) {
$btnStatusElem.button('reset');
try {
var datajson = JSON.parse(data);
}
catch (e) {
alert('Unexpected server error');
return false;
};
if (datajson['success'] == true) {
//do the OK stuff
} else {
//show the error code, and stuff
return false;
}
},//success
error: function(msg) {
alert('ERROR');
$('#passwordreset_result').html(msg);
}
});
For my code, ajax query, i want it to do these steps:
1. Disable the submit button while posting (re-enable also after 15 seconds and not just leave it disabled until page refresh)
2. It sends json, expects json to return
3. If server has some error, it DOES NOT return json but error. Then the code will halt all js execution if i dont use try...catch. This is pain to write each time
4. If server returns validation error or some other expected error, i have to detect this and show to the user
5. If all ok, do the stuff

As with any refactoring, identify and isolate the repetitive code and pass in the unique bits. In this case, for example, you could isolate the ajax call and json parsing into a function and pass in the url, data, etc.
That function could return a promise that resolves/rejects as appropriate.
Given the doRequest function below (pseudocode, untested and would probably need a bit of tweaking for real-world use), you could then use it all over the place with fewer keystrokes:
doRequest('pwreset.php', postdata, button)
.then(result => {
// do something with the result
})
.catch(error => {
// deal with the error
});
or
try {
const result = await doRequest('pwreset.php', postdata);
// do something with result
}
catch (e) {
// handle error
}
All of the boilerplate stuff is isolated in doRequest.
async function doRequest(url, data, button, type = "POST") {
return new Promise((fulfill, reject) => {
$.ajax({
type,
url,
data,
cache: false,
success: function(data) {
$btnStatusElem.button('reset');
try {
const datajson = JSON.parse(data);
} catch (e) {
return reject(e);
};
return datajson['success'] == true ?
fulfill(datajson) :
reject(datajson);
}, //success
error: function(msg) {
return reject(msg);
}
});
})
}
As #mister-jojo says, you might also want to consider using the [fetch api] instead of jQuery, but the same principle applies.

Related

JavaScript: Retry request on fail and continue normal app flow

Quick context:
The user has a problem with the network and I need to repeat requests to the server to continue loading app instead of showing an error.
Existing code in the app:
ajaxPostWithRootData = function (url, rootData) {
//prepare request
var request = decoratorFunction(
$.ajax({
//standard data required to send request
})
)
.done(function (result) {
// normal flow
})
.fail(function (e) {
//I want to repeat call after 1 second
});
return request;
};
Example call:
return ajaxPostWithRootData(url, data)
.done(function (result) {
//do some stuff
})
.fail(function (e) {
//hide loading, show error message
});
};
I thought to write in fail() something like that:
//repeatOnFail is a new function's param to prevent infinite loop
if (shouldRepeatOnConnectionProblem(repeatOnFail, e)) {
setTimeout(() => ajaxPostWithRootData(url, rootData, false), 1000);
}
Unfortunately JS works asynchronously here and even I get success response in second request, it's too late because app executes code from second fail().
Do you know how to change this code to "back" to the correct flow when I got a success response after the second call?
My knowledge about JS is poor, so even I know have an idea how to fix it, I don't know how to implement a solution ;/
If I understand correctly, you would like to invoke $.ajax({..}) with a fixed configuration and, if that first invocation fails, immediately retry the $.ajax({..}) request with the same configuration, in which case the following changes to ajaxPostWithRootData should achieve what you require:
var ajaxPostWithRootData = function(url, rootData) {
// Define reusable function that sets up and invokes
// ajax request
var doRequest = function() {
return decoratorFunction(
$.ajax({
//standard data required to send request
}))
}
// Return a promise that is controlled by this deferred behavior
return $.Deferred(function(deferred) {
doRequest()
.fail(function (){
doRequest ()
.fail(function () {
// On fail after second attempt, throw error
// to external app flow
deferred.reject();
}).done(function (result){
// If second attempt succeed, continue external
// app flow
deferred.resolve(result);
});
})
.done(function (result){
// If first attempt succeed, continue external
// app flow
deferred.resolve(result);
});
}).promise();
};
There updates should also work nicely with your external code and preserve the overall flow of events that you're after.
Hope that helps!

Ajax interrupt current function without using async

i have a custom jQuery function with callbacks, in one of them i want to do a server-side check before some event is triggered.
Something like this:
var object = $('#object').customFunction({
onSomeEvent: function (someData) {
$.ajax({
...
...
success: function(data) {
if (data == ok) {
return true;
} else {
return false; *****
}
}
})
},
})
**** I want this "return false;" to be the return of "onSomeEvent".
I know i can make the ajax call async false, save the response data in a variable, check it after the ajax and return the false then, but i really would like to avoid the async false.
I really dont know what to try, everything i google is putting the ajax async on false.
Thanks in advance for your help!
to avoid setting async to false, im using this..
my_request = $.ajax({
...
...
})
my_request.done(function(data)){
//you can set the data to global
});

Sending OfficeJS 2D Array through Ajax Request

I'm trying to send a "large" table in OfficeJS:
functionfile.html loaded from manifest route
<script>
(function (){
"use strict";
Office.initialize = function (reason) {
$(document).ready(function() {
$("#send-data-button").click(send_data);
});
};
function send_data() {
return Excel.run( function(context) {
var data = context.workbook.worksheets.getItem("SheetName")
.getRange("A1:K3673").load("values");
return context.sync().then( function() {
// 2d table is correctly seen
// $("body").append(data.values);
// Just gets lost in ajax call
$.ajax({
type: "GET",
url: mysite,
data: {"accessData": data.values},
}).done( function(success) {
$("body").append("All Done");
}).fail( function(error) {
$("body").append("Error == " + JSON.stringify(error));
});
return context.sync();
});
});
}
})();
</script>
<div> <button id="send-data-button"> Send </button></div>
However i'm not sure how to send this, on the backside I have a flask server catching the request and was hoping I could just use pandas.read_json but no matter how I try to send this i'm getting different errors. Here's the printout of flask.request when data.values[0][0]:
CombinedMultiDict([ImmutableMultiDict([('update_date', '43191'), ('accessData', 'Channel')]), ImmutableMultiDict([])])
And when I try data.values[0] I get a list of values, which is what i'd expect
CombinedMultiDict([ImmutableMultiDict([('update_date', '43191'), ('accessData[]', 'Channel'), ... <All my column headers>, ImmutableMultiDict([])])
But when I try to send the 2D array with just data.values I get an error message in ajax.fail:
Error == {"readyState":0,"status":0,"statusText":"error"}
I also tried JSON.stringify(data.values) and got the same error message:
Error == {"readyState":0,"status":0,"statusText":"error"}
I even tried to take each column and convert them to some kind of list as nested keys inside accessData but I was getting the same error message. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Ideally, you should isolate the getting-data-from-Excel part from your ajax call part. Right now, the two are intertwined, which makes it both harder to help debug, and just conceptually less clean.
For the Excel part, you should be able to do:
function getExcelData(){
return Excel.run( function(context) {
var data = context.workbook.worksheets.getItem("SheetName")
.getRange("A1:K3673").load("values");
return context.sync()
.then(function() {
return data.values;
});
})
}
This will free you up to then do:
getExcelData().then(function(values) {
$.ajax(...)
});
Note that range.values returns just a regular 2D array, nothing special. So you can try out your ajax call independently of the Excel call (which is yet another reason to separate those out)

How to use promises, or complete an ajax request before the function finishes?

I have the following function to check a users session to see if they're staff or not. Now, I know there are better ways to do this, but I'm trying to make a simple application that's tied with a forum software.
function isStaff(callback) {
$.ajax({
url: url
}).done(function(data) {
var session = $.parseJSON(data);
if (session.is_staff === 1) {
callback(true);
} else {
callback(false);
}
});
}
Let's say I'm using this function in, like so, when compiling a "post" (Handlebars).
function compilePost(post) {
var source = $('#feed-item-template').html();
var template = Handlebars.compile(source);
var context = {
id: post.id,
content: post.text,
author: post.author,
date: $.timeago(post.date),
staff: function() {
isStaff(function(response) {
return response;
});
}
}
var html= template(context);
return html;
}
Problem here, is that the request to check if a user is staff doesn't complete the request until after the function is ran.
I know with Promises is an alternative to async: false, where request is made and the response comes back before the function finishes.
But I have no idea how I can convert this into a promise. I've tried to learn it but I'm stuck at the concept. Can someone explain this to me? Thanks.
First, let's simplify the compilePost function. This function should know how to compile a post in a synchronous manner. Let's change the isStaff fetching to a simple argument.
function compilePost(post, isStaff) {
var source = $('#feed-item-template').html();
var template = Handlebars.compile(source);
var context = {
id: post.id,
content: post.text,
author: post.author,
date: $.timeago(post.date),
staff: isStaff
}
var html= template(context);
return html;
}
Now, let's create a new method, with a single purpose - checking if a user is member of the staff:
function checkForStaffMemebership() {
return new Promise(function (resolve, reject) {
$.ajax({
url: url,
success: function (data) {
var session = $.parseJSON(data);
if (session.is_staff === 1) {
resolve(true);
} else {
resolve(false);
}
}
});
});
}
This function wraps your original ajax call to the server with a promise, whenever the $.ajax call gets a response from the server, the promise will resolve with the answer whether the user is a staff member or not.
Now, we can write another function to orchestrate the process:
function compilePostAsync(post) {
return checkForStaffMemebership()
.then(function (isStaff) {
return compilePost(post, isStaff);
});
}
compilePostAsync finds out whether the user is a staff member or not. Then, it's compiling the post.
Please notice that compilePostAsync returns a promise, and thus if you used to have something like:
element.innerHTML = compilePost(post);
Now, you should change it to something like:
compilePostAsync(post).then(function (compiledPost) {
element.innerHTML = compiledPost;
});
Some notes:
This is only an example, it surely misses some things (proper error handling for example)
The isStaff and checkForStaffMemebership (original and new) do not get any argument, I guess you'd figure out how to pass the userId or any other data you might need
Read about promises, it's a useful tool to have, there is a lot of data about it on the web, for example: MDN.
As per the documentation you dont need to wrap the ajax with a promise which already implements promise. Instead chain the response as explained below.
The jqXHR objects returned by $.ajax() as of jQuery 1.5 implement the Promise interface, giving them all the properties, methods, and behavior of a Promise (see Deferred object for more information)
You can do something like below by chaining the response:
function isStaff(url, post) {
return $.ajax({
url: url,
dataType:"json"
}).then(function(resp){
//resp = $.parseJSON(resp); /*You dont require this if you have respose as JSON object. Just Specify it in 'dataType'*/
var source = $('#feed-item-template').html();
var template = Handlebars.compile(source);
var context = {
id: post.id,
content: post.text,
author: post.author,
date: $.timeago(post.date),
staff: resp.is_staff === 1 ? true : false
};
return template(context);
});
}
isStaff(url, post).done(function(template){
/*Your compiled template code is available here*/
}).fail(function(jqXHR, textStatus, errorThrown){
console.log("Error:"+textStatus);
});
Note: Be sure to implement error callbacks also. Because you may never know what
went wrong :)
Simple explanation about promise with $.defer:
For understanding i have created the Fiddle similar to your requirement.
Explanation:
Basically Promise is been introduced to attain synchronous execution of asynchronous JS code.
What do you mean by Async or Asynchronous code?
The code that is executed may return a value at any given point of time which is not immediate. Famous example to support this statement would be jquery ajax.
Why is it required?
Promise implementations helps a developer to implement a synchronous code block which depends on asynchronous code block for response,. like in ajax call when i make a request to server asking for a data string, i need to wait till the server responds back to me with a response data string which my synchronous code uses it to manipulate it , do some logic and update the UI.
Follow this link where the author has explained with detailed examples.
PS: Jquery $.defer implements or wraps promise in quite a different way. Both are used for the same purpose.
let basedataset = {}
let ajaxbase = {};
//setting api Urls
apiinterface();
function apiinterface() {
ajaxbase.createuser = '/api/createuser'
}
//setting up payload for post method
basedataset.email = profile.getEmail()
basedataset.username = profile.getGivenName()
//setting up url for api
ajaxbase.url = ajaxbase.createuser
ajaxbase.payload = basedataset;
//reusable promise based approach
basepostmethod(ajaxbase).then(function(data) {
console.log('common data', data);
}).catch(function(reason) {
console.log('reason for rejection', reason)
});
//modular ajax (Post/GET) snippets
function basepostmethod(ajaxbase) {
return new Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
$.ajax({
url: ajaxbase.url,
method: 'post',
dataType: 'json',
data: ajaxbase.payload,
success: function(data) {
resolve(data);
},
error: function(xhr) {
reject(xhr)
}
});
});
}
A solution using async await in js would be like this:
async function getMyAjaxCall() {
const someVariableName = await ajaxCallFunction();
}
function getMyAjaxCall() {
return $.ajax({
type: 'POST',
url: `someURL`,
headers: {
'Accept':'application/json',
},
success: function(response) {
// in case you need something else done.
}
});
}

Javascript rendering. How to write Javascript so it doesn't continue executing code before a function call has ended

Not sure if my question is subjective/objective but as a JavaScript newbie i'm encountering this problem quite a lot. So here I go.
I'm used to write C#, so my JavaScript structure looks like C#. And just that, that gives problems I think ;-)
Let's give a simple example where I met my problem again today:
MyLibrary.fn.InitAddEntityForm = function () {
$('a#btnAddEntity').click(function () {
//post data and receive object with guid and isPersisted boolean
var persistedObject = MyLibrary.fn.CheckAndSendAddEntityForm("name", "avatarurl.png");
console.log("test");
//check if persisted and go to next step
if (persistedObject.isPersisted) {
MyLibrary.fn.InitAddAnotherEntityForm(persistedObject.gdEntityId);
} else {
alert("Oops, something went wrong. Please call 911");
}
});
};
//////*****/////
//SOME FUNCTION THAT SENDS MY FORM AND RETURNS AN OBJECT WITH TRUE VALUE AND POSTED ENTITY ID
/////*****//////
MyLibrary.fn.CheckAndSendAddForm = function (txtName, ImageUrl) {
var postUrl = "/admin/add";
var persistedObject = new Object();
$.post(
postUrl,
{ Name: txtName, ImageUrl: txtImageUrl},
function (data) {
if (data.Status == 200) {
console.log("Post status:" + data.Message);
persistedObject.isPersisted = true;
persistedObject.gdEntityId = data.Data;
} else if (data.Status == 500) {
console.log("Failed to post entitiy");
} else {
console.log("Fault with Javascript");
}
}, "json"
);
return persistedObject;
};
Okay, thats it. Everything looks okay right? Browser says no.
I tried to debug it using firebug, looping over my code line by line, and that way the browser does what I want: Execute a new function to show the next panel in my wizard.
After placing a lot of Console.logs() in my code I figured out that this must be something about timing in JavaScript. In C# the code executes line by line, but apparently JavaScript doesn't.
By placing that Console.log("test") I noticed that "test" appeared in my console before "Post status: Success!".
So here's my question, how should I write my JavaScript code so I have control over the way the browser executes my code?
Should I really replace the code below to the end of my CheckAndSendAddEntityForm()?
//check if persisted and go to next step
if (persistedObject.isPersisted) {
MyLibrary.fn.InitAddAnotherEntityForm(persistedObject.gdEntityId);
} else {
alert("fout");
}
Is this how I have to write JavaScript: One big domino effect or am I just doing something wrong?
$.post is a shortcut for an AJAX call, AJAX is by definition asynchronous, which means it won't wait on a response before continuing processing. If you switch it to a regular AJAX() method, there is an async option you can set to false, which will make it behave as you are expecting.
Alternatively you can also define a function to execute on successful return of the AJAX request, in which you can call the next step in your process chain.
The AJAX call is asychronous; that means that the callback method exposes by $.post will be executed when the request completes, but your javascript will continue executing as soon as the invoke to $.post finishes. If you want to do something after the ajax call is done, you need to provide a callback method and do something else, ex:
MyLibrary.fn.CheckAndSendAddForm = function (txtName, ImageUrl, callback) {
var postUrl = "/admin/add";
var persistedObject = new Object();
$.post(
postUrl,
{ Name: txtName, ImageUrl: txtImageUrl},
function (data) {
if (data.Status == 200) {
console.log("Post status:" + data.Message);
persistedObject.isPersisted = true;
persistedObject.gdEntityId = data.Data;
} else if (data.Status == 500) {
console.log("Failed to post entitiy");
} else {
console.log("Fault with Javascript");
}
callback(); // This is where you return flow to your caller
}, "json"
);
};
Then you invoke like so:
var persistedObject = MyLibrary.fn.CheckAndSendAddEntityForm("name", "avatarurl.png", function()
{
console.log("test");
//check if persisted and go to next step
if (persistedObject.isPersisted) {
MyLibrary.fn.InitAddAnotherEntityForm(persistedObject .gdPronoId);
} else {
alert("Oops, something went wrong. Please call 911");
}
});
JavaScript is single-threaded. If you have asynchronous functionality, a simple boolean semaphore variable will help not to allow invocations of a function while some processes are running.
If you want to execute asynchronous tasks one by one (like a domino line), you will need to use callback functions.
What you're encountering is the "asynchronous" bit of AJAX. If you want to physically (as in the line line by line in the Javascript file) you can use the .success,.pipe or .done jQuery methods to add a callback to process the data further. Don't embed your callbacks if you can help it, or you will get a "domino effect" as you call it.

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