I have a website entirely coded with PHP. Let's consider the simple example in which a PHP script generates HTML/CSS code from data about a list of fruits, fetched in a MySQL data base :
<?php
function displayFruit( $fruit ) {
echo('<div>');
echo('<span class="fruit-color">Coulor : '.$fruit['color'].'</span>');
...
// display some other parameters of the fruit, with maybe some complex styles, etc.
...
echo('</div>');
}
// Get infos from dabase
$fruits = getAllFruitsFromDatabase();
// Display infos
foreach( $fruits as $fruit ) {
displayFruit( $fruit );
}
?>
Now, I want to add interactivity and to allow the user to filter according to some fruits characteristics (color, etc.) so that only the corresponding fruits are displayed.
So I add some controls and link them to Javascript AJAX queries. These queries will return the same type of data (even though not the same format) as what getAllFruitsFromDatabase() returned, and I want this data to be displayed the same way displayFruit() displayed it.
However, the issue here is that the display/styling process will now have to occur on the client side and not anymore on the server side.
Is there a technical way to factorize the PHP code (the one of displayFruit() ) and the Javascript code that will have to be used, so that there only exists one place where the HTML display code is written (and not once in PHP, and once again in JS) ?
What you describe is a very common problem for interactive web apps and there is not really one 'correct' solution for it. : )
It really depends on what you want in terms of PHP-vs-JS balance, but here are two possible solutions that avoid duplication of the HTML rendering code:
1. Always create the mark-up in Javascript, even on the initial page load
This works well if you want the bulk of your code to be on the client-side. In this solution, you wouldn't have a displayFruit($fruit) function in PHP, but you'd have the equivalent in your Javascript. You would render your page 'frame' on page load, and then do your AJAX call on the document-ready event.
2. Always create the mark-up in PHP, even on the filter-AJAX calls
This is perhaps a more balanced approach and has the advantage that you could design your code such that it's possible to run even if the client has Javascript disabled.
One way to do this is to pass an optional parameter to your page rendering function (in the PHP code) that will make it render only the data part, e.g. something like this:
function renderPage($filters = false, $dataOnly = false)
{
if (!$dataOnly) {
// Output the top of the page
}
// Output the data
// If $filters is not false, the getFruitsFromDatabase call will return filtered data
$fruits = getFruitsFromDatabase($filters);
foreach( $fruits as $fruit ) {
displayFruit($fruit);
}
if (!$dataOnly) {
// Output the bottom of the page
}
}
When your PHP script is called via AJAX, you pass your filters to the first argument of the renderPage function and true to the second argument.
Note on front-end frameworks:
exussum and Michael Chaney have mentioned Javascript frameworks. While I haven't used any of those myself, they look fantastic!
So If you're ready to invest time in re-writing your display logic in JS, then go for it. However, if you don't have much time and would like to re-use as much of your original PHP code as possible, then I would go for solution number 2. The decision probably also depends on the size and design of your existing code.
EDIT: had forgotten to add a $filters argument to the example function
EDIT 2: comment on front-end frameworks mentioned by others in comments
Related
Is it possible to set PHP session variables using Javascript?
In JavaScript:
jQuery('#div_session_write').load('session_write.php?session_name=new_value');
In session_write.php file:
<?
session_start();
if (isset($_GET['session_name'])) {$_SESSION['session_name'] = $_GET['session_name'];}
?>
In HTML:
<div id='div_session_write'> </div>
The session is stored server-side so you cannot add values to it from JavaScript. All that you get client-side is the session cookie which contains an id. One possibility would be to send an AJAX request to a server-side script which would set the session variable. Example with jQuery's .post() method:
$.post('/setsessionvariable.php', { name: 'value' });
You should, of course, be cautious about exposing such script.
If you want to allow client-side manipulation of persistent data, then it's best to just use cookies. That's what cookies were designed for.
or by pure js, see also on StackOverflow :
JavaScript post request like a form submit
BUT WHY try to set $_session with js? any JS variable can be modified by a player with
some 3rd party tools (firebug), thus any player can mod the $_session[]! And PHP cant give js any secret codes (or even [rolling] encrypted) to return, it is all visible. Jquery or AJAX can't help, it's all js in the end.
This happens in online game design a lot. (Maybe a bit of Game Theory? forgive me, I have a masters and love to put theory to use :) ) Like in crimegameonline.com, I
initialize a minigame puzzle with PHP, saving the initial board in $_SESSION['foo'].
Then, I use php to [make html that] shows the initial puzzle start. Then, js takes over, watching buttons and modding element xy's as players make moves. I DONT want to play client-server (like WOW) and ask the server 'hey, my player want's to move to xy, what should I do?'. It's a lot of bandwidth, I don't want the server that involved.
And I can just send POSTs each time the player makes an error (or dies). The player can block outgoing POSTs (and alter local JS vars to make it forget the out count) or simply modify outgoing POST data. YES, people will do this, especially if real money is involved.
If the game is small, you could send post updates EACH move (button click), 1-way, with post vars of the last TWO moves. Then, the server sanity checks last and cats new in a $_SESSION['allMoves']. If the game is massive, you could just send a 'halfway' update of all preceeding moves, and see if it matches in the final update's list.
Then, after a js thinks we have a win, add or mod a button to change pages:
document.getElementById('but1').onclick=Function("leave()");
...
function leave() {
var line='crimegameonline-p9b.php';
top.location.href=line;
}
Then the new page's PHP looks at $_SESSION['init'] and plays thru each of the
$_SESSION['allMoves'] to see if it is really a winner. The server (PHP) must decide if it is really a winner, not the client (js).
You can't directly manipulate a session value from Javascript - they only exist on the server.
You could let your Javascript get and set values in the session by using AJAX calls though.
See also
Javascript and session variables
jQuery click event to change php session variable
One simple way to set session variable is by sending request to another PHP file. Here no need to use Jquery or any other library.
Consider I have index.php file where I am creating SESSION variable (say $_SESSION['v']=0) if SESSION is not created otherwise I will load other file.
Code is like this:
session_start();
if(!isset($_SESSION['v']))
{
$_SESSION['v']=0;
}
else
{
header("Location:connect.php");
}
Now in count.html I want to set this session variable to 1.
Content in count.html
function doneHandler(result) {
window.location="setSession.php";
}
In count.html javascript part, send a request to another PHP file (say setSession.php) where i can have access to session variable.
So in setSession.php will write
session_start();
$_SESSION['v']=1;
header('Location:index.php');
Not possible. Because JavaScript is client-side and session is server-side. To do anything related to a PHP session, you have to go to the server.
be careful when doing this, as it is a security risk. attackers could just repeatedly inject data into session variables, which is data stored on the server. this opens you to someone overloading your server with junk session data.
here's an example of code that you wouldn't want to do..
<input type="hidden" value="..." name="putIntoSession">
..
<?php
$_SESSION["somekey"] = $_POST["putIntoSession"]
?>
Now an attacker can just change the value of putIntoSession and submit the form a billion times. Boom!
If you take the approach of creating an AJAX service to do this, you'll want to make sure you enforce security to make sure repeated requests can't be made, that you're truncating the received value, and doing some basic data validation.
I solved this question using Ajax. What I do is make an ajax call to a PHP page where the value that passes will be saved in session.
The example that I am going to show you, what I do is that when you change the value of the number of items to show in a datatable, that value is saved in session.
$('#table-campus').on( 'length.dt', function ( e, settings, len ) {
$.ajax ({
data: {"numElems": len},
url: '../../Utiles/GuardarNumElems.php',
type: 'post'
});
});
And the GuardarNumElems.php is as following:
<?php
session_start();
if(isset ($_POST['numElems'] )){
$numElems = $_POST['numElems'];
$_SESSION['elems_table'] = $numElems;
}else{
$_SESSION['elems_table'] = 25;
}
?>
This isn't a duplicate question by any means and I have tried a lot finding solutions.So, please read it before down voting.
Background:
This application is like a note-taking web app where you can post/delete your notes.
Each item in the list has an id which is needed when making a delete call.
In my application, I have to delete individual items from a list which is generated by looping over a JSON response (by a REST API) using PHP.The JSON response can be obtained after successful login.
Question:
To implement delete functionality I have to send id of each of the items as a parameter to the rest api delete call.
So, for this I have to generate dynamic links of the form :
http://localhost/myfolder/api/notes/:id
which should be passed to the delete.php function (Which I have implemented in CURL).
I searched for possible ways :
Using a PHP function: It seems to be complex, however if there is some way to invoke a PHP function (the delete code using CURL) on click of a link (Which I found not possible as per some answers ?) this could be a great solution.
Using Javascript: I have to call a function upon click of link that sets a variable $_SESSION["id"] to the current item["id"] and then goes to delete.php where I use the $_SESSION variable to first set up the link and then use the CURL code.
I tried basic implementation using the second approach but I have hit a roadblock in this issue. It would be great if you could tell with a bit of code which approach should be followed or any other way to do this ?
This functionality is present in twitter/facebook and almost every such service, how do they implement this, the basic approach should be the same, right: Generate dynamic links and pass them to a php script on click ?
Basic Javasript approach :
<script>
<script>
var el = document.getElementById('del1');
el.onclick = del1;
function del() {
// I have to set $_SESSION here
return false;
}
</script>
echo "<a href=\"delete.php\" title=\"Delete\" id=\"del1\">";
//Here, I have to pass the item["id"] to the javascript function.
I had tried some other ways but I have modified the code a lot so, I can't post them. Thanks for your help.
Regarding #2, you can't access the user's session from Javascript, so that will not work.
My preferred way (if using jquery) is to put the id in a data attribute of the delete button (or the block as a whole). Then in the delete onclick function do something like
<div class="block" data-itemid="<?=$item['id']?>">
...
<div class="delete_button">Delete</div>
</div>
...
$('.delete_button').on('click',function(event) {
block = $(event).target.parent('.block');
itemid = block.data('itemid');
$.post('delete.php',[itemid: itemid]...);
});
Well i wanna create an Ajax Drag and Drop Shopping cart using only javascript and ajax. Currently i'm using the example in this page as a stepping stone. Right now it's only with local jquery and it works fine but i want to make the cart work with ajax calls. Note that i do not want to use a server side language( like php, rubby, asp etc), only html and javascript.
My initial thought was that at the $(".basket").droppable i should add an ajax call to another html page containing the "server logic" in javascript, execute in that file all the necessary steps( like reading the get variables (product name, product id and quantity), set a cookie and then return an ok response back. When the server got the "ok" response it should "reload" the cart div with the updated info stored inside the cookie.
If this was with php i would know how to do it. The problem is that as far as i know, you can execute javascript once it reaches the DOM, but how can you execute that js from inside the page that isbeing called upon ? ( thanks to Amadan for the correction)
I've thought about loading the script using $.getScript( "ajax/test.js", function( data, textStatus, jqxhr ).. but the problem with that is that the url GET variables i want to pass to the "server script" do not exist in that page.
I havent implemented all the functionality yet as i am stuck in how to first achieve javascript execution inside an ajax target page.
Below is a very basic form of my logic so far
// read GET variables
var product = getQueryVariable("product");
var id = getQueryVariable("id");
var quantity= getQueryVariable("quantity");
//To DO
//--- here eill go all the logic regarding cookie handling
function getQueryVariable(variable) {
var query = window.location.search.substring(1);
var vars = query.split("&");
for (var i=0;i<vars.length;i++) {
var pair = vars[i].split("=");
if (pair[0] == variable) {
return pair[1];
}
}
alert('Query Variable ' + variable + ' not found');
}
Any help regarding this matter will be appreciated.
Note: Logic in simple words:
1)have an html page with products+cart
2)Have an "addtocart.html" with the "Cart Server Logic"( being the target of the ajax call when an item is dropped into the product.)
If you have some other idea on this, please enlighten me :)
thanks in advance
Foot Note-1:
if i try loading the scipt using
$("#response").load("ajax/addtocart.html?"+ $.param({
product: product,
id: id,
quantity:quantity
})
);
i get the alert about not being able to find the url parameters( something that i thing is normal as because the content is being loaded into the initial page, from which the request is started, there are no get parameters in the url in the first place)
The problem is that as far as i know, you cannot execute javascript contained in the target of an ajax call, as that page never reaches the browser interpreter.
This is either incorrect or misleading. The browser will execute any JavaScript that enters DOM. Thus, you can use $.load to load content and execute code at the same time. Alternately, you can use hacked JSONP to both execute code and also provide content as a JSON document.
EDIT: Yes, you can't get to the AJAX parameters from JavaScript. Why do you want to? Do you have a good reason for it, or is it an XY problem?
The way I'd do it is this:
$('#response').load(url, data, function() {
onAddedToCart(product, id, quantity);
});
and wrap your JS code in your HTML into the onAddedToCart function.
Depending on what exactly you're doing, it could be simplified even further, but this should be enough to cover your use case.
I have one of those websites that basically gives you a yes or no response to a question posed by the url. An example being http://isnatesilverawitch.com.
My site is more of an in-joke and the answer changes frequently. What I would like to be able to do is store a short one or two word string and be able to change it without editing the source on my site if that is possible using only javascript. I don't want to set up an entire database just to hold a single string.
Is there a way to write to a file without too much trouble, or possibly a web service designed to retrieve and change a single string that I could use to power such a site? I know it's a strange question, but the people in my office will definitely get a kick out of it. I am even considering building a mobile app to manipulate the answer on the fly.
ADDITIONAL:
To be clear I just want to change the value of a single string but I can't just use a random answer. Without being specific, think of it as a site that states if the doctor is IN or OUT, but I don't want it to spit out a random answer, it needs to say IN when he is IN and OUT when he is out. I will change this value manually, but I would like to make the process simple and something I can do on a mobile device. I can't really edit source (nor do I want to) from a phone.
If I understand correctly you want a simple text file that you change a simple string value in and have it appear someplace on your site.
var string = "loading;"
$.get('filename.txt',function(result){
string = result;
// use string
})
Since you don't want to have server-side code or a database, one option is to have javascript retrieve values from a Google Spreadsheet. Tabletop (http://builtbybalance.com/Tabletop/) is one library designed to let you do this. You simply make a public Google Spreadsheet and enable "Publish to web", which gives you a public URL. Here's a simplified version of the code you'd then use on your site:
function init() {
Tabletop.init( { url: your_public_spreadshseet_url,
callback: function (data) {
console.log(data);
},
simpleSheet: true } )
}
Two ideas for you:
1) Using only JavaScript, generate the value randomly (or perhaps based on a schedule, which you can hard code ahead of time once and the script will take care of the changes over time).
2) Using Javascript and a server-side script, you can change the value on the fly.
Use JavaScript to make an AJAX request to a text file that contains the value. Shanimal's answer gives you the code to achieve that.
To change the value on the fly you'll need another server-side script that writes the value to some sort of data store (your text file in this case). I'm not sure what server-side scripting (e.g. PHP, Perl, ASP, Python) runtime you have on your web server, but I could help you out with the code for PHP where you could change the value by pointing to http://yoursite.com/changeValue.php?Probably in a browser. The PHP script would simply write Probably to the text file.
Though javascript solution is possible it is discouraged. PHP is designed to do such things like changing pieces of sites randomly. Assuming you know that, I will jump to javascript solution.
Because you want to store word variation in a text file, you will need to download this file using AJAX or store it in .js file using array or string.
Then you will want to change the words. Using AJAX will make it possible to change the words while page is loaded (so they may, but do not have to, change in front of viewers eyes).
Changing page HTML
Possible way of changing (words are in array):
wordlist.js
var status = "IN"; //Edit IN to OUT whenever you want
index.html
<script src="wordlist.js"></script>
<div>Doctor is <span id="changing">IN</span></div>
<script>
function changeWord(s) { //Change to anything
document.getElementById("changing").innerHTML = s;
}
changeWord(status); //Get the status defined in wordlist.js
</script>
Reloading from server
If you want to change answer dynamically and have the change effect visible on all open pages, you will need AJAX or you will have to make browser reload the word list, as following:
Reloading script
function reloadWords() {
var script = document.createElement("script"); //Create <script>
script.type="text/javascript";
script.src = "wordlist.js"; //Set the path
script.onload = function() {changeWord(status)}; //Change answer after loading
document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(script); //Append to <head> so it loads as script. Can be appended anywhere, but I like to use <head>
}
Using AJAX
Here we assume use of text file. Simplest solution I guess. With AJAX it looks much like this:
http = ActiveXObject==null?(new XMLHttpRequest()):(new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"));
http.onloadend = function() {
document.getElementById("changing").innerHTML = this.responseText; //Set the new response, "IN" or "OUT"
}
http.open("GET", "words.txt")
http.send();
Performance of AJAX call may be improved using long-poling. I will not introduce this feature more here, unless someone is interested.
I have a view where ill have 3 divs:
Div 1: List of Brands with checkboxs.
Div 2: List of Categories with checkboxs.
Div 3: List of Items.
This last div will be refreshed with the all the items according to what is selected in the first two divs. At beginning it shows all the items, after we select some of the brands and/or categories and press refresh i'll want to refresh the div 3.
In Javascript I can get which of the categories/brands are selected and my biggest doubt is on how to refresh the last div...
Heres what I was trying:
function refresh() {
var brands= /*<code where i get all the brands selected (this will be a js array)>*/
var categories = /*<code where i get all the categories selected (this will be a js array)>*/
<?php echo $ajax->remoteFunction(array('url' => array('controller' => 'items',
'action' => 'men', brands, categories),
'update' => 'itemsContent')); ?>
}
My problems are:
- How do I pass the js vars into the php method?
- How do I receive an js array in a cakephp action? Because brands and categories will be used to filter the query that produce results for the div 3...
You won't be able to use the $ajax helper here, since it just outputs a static script which can't be changed/influenced at "run-time" in the browser. It just wasn't made for something more complex than it is.
So, you'll have to roll your own JS, which shouldn't be that hard though. All you need is:
a Cake action that outputs a list of items based on the data it receives (shouldn't be hard)
a bit of JS that figures out which brands and categories are selected (which you already have)
another bit of JS that packages that data and sends it to the Cake action
another bit of JS that updates the site with the list of items you received back
I'd take a look at jQuery's AJAX functions to accomplish #3. If you POST the data in a format like this, it's very easily accessible in $this->data in Cake:
{
'data[ModelName][categories]' : categories,
'data[ModelName][brands]' : brands
}
Regarding your question:
"How do I pass the js vars into the php method?"
You don't. PHP runs on the server and is already finished by the time the Javascript runs in the browser. The only "communication" between JS and PHP is via standard HTTP GET and POST requests, and there it doesn't matter whether the request comes from a standard browser or JS or Flash or whatnot.
The $ajax helper just has a bunch of pre-fabricated Javascript snippets it can put into your page, but your JS will not be able to "talk to" the $ajax helper in any way.
I had a similar scenario to yours, and I found a few methods on the Javascript helper that are applicable. I used codeBlock() to wrap a chunk of javascript, and event() to wire up the click event, but I'm not sure how much clearer this is than just writing the raw Javascript.
I found the AJAX section of the CakePHP manual to be really helpful for getting the basic set up. Then I took the generated Javascript and made it more dynamic.
In this example, I'm calling the add_topic action whenever the user clicks the link. Every time it gets called, I increment the topicIndex variable and pass it as a parameter in the AJAX call. The AJAX call returns a few rows that are inserted in the table above the link that the user clicked.
<tr id="add_topic_row"><td colspan="3">
<a id="add_topic_link" href="javascript:void(0);">New Topic
<?php echo $html->image('icons/add32.png');?></a></td></tr>
</table>
</fieldset>
<?php
echo $form->end('Submit');
$addTopicUrl = $html->url(array('action' => 'add_topic')) . '/';
$script = <<<EOS
var topicIndex = $index;
var addTopicUrl = '$addTopicUrl';
addTopic = function()
{
new Ajax.Updater(
'add_topic_row',
addTopicUrl + topicIndex,
{
asynchronous:true,
evalScripts:true,
insertion:Insertion.Before,
requestHeaders:['X-Update', 'add_topic']
});
topicIndex++;
}
EOS;
echo $javascript->codeBlock($script);
echo $javascript->event('add_topic_link', 'click', 'addTopic();')
?>