Ajax event handler does not update variables? - javascript

I'm having issues getting a variable declared in an .click function to be updated in a Get function within the click function. I've gathered that even though the variable has the same name, within the Get function it is really declaring it anew.
I've tried to find examples helping me, but it appears to me that the Get method is such a specialized function that the examples didn't seem to apply.
I would like the value of 'SettingContentToEdit' to get updated with information retrieved with the Get function.
Below is the code.
Thank you for your help!
$(".cellSetting").click(function () {
var clickedClass = $(this).attr("class");
var clickedItemID = $(this).attr("id")
var SettingContentToEdit = "not changed";
var JSONSend = {
'ItemName': clickedItemID, //send the item name so the model knows which one to pull up!
'ItemSetting': clickedClass
};
$.get(
'/Home/getItem',
JSONSend,
function (data) {
// $('#dialog').html(data.ItemSettings[data.SettingToEdit]);
SettingContentToEdit = data.ItemSettings[data.SettingToEdit];
alert(SettingContentToEdit); //returns the correct info
}
);
alert(SettingContentToEdit); //returns "not changed"
});

Your issue is that your ajax call is asyncronous. The success handler for the get() function is called some time after your click handler and the alert() has already completed. You can refer to the local variables in your success handler, but the code that follows the success handler executes BEFORE the success handler does.
This is because your get() operate is asynchronous. Calling it just STARTS the networking operation and then your javascript execution continues (while the networking operation works in the background). After starting the networking operation, your alert() is called. Then, some time LATER, the Ajax call completes and the success handler is executed.
This is a very common mistake and has indeed been asked and answered hundreds (if not thousands) of times here on SO (I've personally probably answered 20-30) so you are not alone in missing this understanding at first.
If you want to use the results of the ajax operation, then you need to put the code that does that either in your success handler or put it in a function that you call from your success handler. You cannot put it after the get() function because it will execute too soon before the results are known.

AJAX is asynchronous. If you check SettingContentToEdit a second or so later than you are doing, you'd see the value has updated.
Either put your code inside the get function (where you have your alert showing the correct value) or make the request synchronous (you'll have to look up the jQuery docs because I don't use jQuery).

Related

Variable scope with jQuery and javascript

So, I wrote the following function:
function getData() {
var data;
$(function () {
$.getJSON('https://ipinfo.io', function (ipinfo) {
data = ipinfo;
console.log(data);
})
})
console.log(data);
}
The problem with the above is the 2nd console.log doesn't retain the info from the assignment inside the jQuery and logs an undefined object. I'm not exactly sure what is wrong, but I believe it to be something quite minor. However, as much as I've searched online, I haven't found an answer for this particular problem.
One line: Javascript is Asynchronous.
While many struggle to figure out what it exactly means, a simple example could possibly explain you that.
You request some data from a URL.
When the data from second URL is received, you wish to set a variable with the received data.
You wish to use this outside the request function's callback (after making the request).
For a conventional programmer, it is very hard to grasp that the order of execution in case of JavaScript will not be 1,2 and then 3 but rather 1,3,2.
Why this happens is because of Javascript's event-loop mechanism where each asynchronous action is tied with an event and callbacks are called only when the event occurs. Meanwhile, the code outside the callback function executes without holding on for the event to actually occur.
In your case:
var data;
$(function () {
$.getJSON('https://ipinfo.io', function (ipinfo) {//async function's callback
data = ipinfo;
console.log(data);//first console output
})
})
console.log(data);//second console output
While the async function's callback is executed when the data is received from the $.getJSON function, javascript proceeds further without waiting for the callback to assign the value to the data variable, causing you to log undefined in the console (which is the value of the data variable when you call console.log.
I hope I was able to explain that.!

how do i callback with js function [duplicate]

This question already has answers here:
How do I return the response from an asynchronous call?
(41 answers)
Closed 9 years ago.
I'm having trouble with callbacks mainly because I don't understand how they're working (or supposed to work).
I have my function:
function checkDuplicateIndex(values, callback) {
$.ajax({
type: "POST",
url: url,
data: "command=checkIndexAlbumTracks&" + values,
dataType: "html",
success: function(data){
var returnValue = data.d;
callback(returnValue);
}
});
}
And then within a submit event, how do I properly call checkDuplicateIndex so that I can alert() the value?
This ended up being a long answer, so I'm going to try to split it into pieces.
Functions in Javascript
So within javascript, a function is an object that can be passed around, assigned to a variable, etc, just like any other data type. The difference is that a function, rather than being a string of text, number, etc, is a block of code waiting to be executed.
This is often confusing to people starting out with programming because usually when you write code, it is executed when you run the program. But for functions, this is not the case. When you write code inside a function, it waits there not executing until you call the function. If you do not call the function, the code is never executed. Let's check out a quick example:
function say_hello(){
console.log('hello!');
}
What you see here is called a function declaration. This means you are creating a function, which is a block of code waiting to be executed. If you run this code, nothing will be logged to the console. Now let's look at a function call.
function say_hello(){
console.log('hello!');
}
say_hello();
So here we declare the function just like before, but below we call it. A function call is just the name of the function followed by open and close parens. If the function takes arguments, they will be inside the parens, but no need to worry about that for now. If you were to run this code, you would in fact see hello! logged to the console, because the function was called, which executes the code inside.
Asynchronous Code
Now, let's switch gears for a second. When you make a jquery ajax call, jquery abstracts a lot of code into the library. They take care of setting up the XMLHttpRequest, firing it off to the place you specify, and collecting the result, and they do this in a way that works cross-browser. But since javascript is asynchronous, as soon as the ajax call goes off, javascript keeps executing code after the ajax call, because who wants to wait around for someone else's server to respond while you could be still getting in that work. So if you fire off something like this:
$.ajax({
url: 'http://google.com',
success: function(){ console.log('done!') }
});
console.log('after ajax call');
...you may be surprised to find that it logs after ajax call before logging done!. This is because, as stated earlier, in javascript calls that deal with I/O are often asynchronous.
So if the ajax call is made and it immediately continues executing code even if the ajax call has not finished, how can we specify code that will run when it's finished? This is where everything comes together. By providing jquery with a function, which as we remember is a block of unexecuted code, we can provide a way for ourselves to write code that is executed only after the ajax call has finished by passing the block of unexecuted code to jquery and saying essetially "hey jquery, take this code, and when the ajax call is finished, call it and pass in any data you got out of it." How convenient!
The way we do this is through the success and error properites of jquery's ajax function. If the request was successful, it will call the function we pass to success, and I assume you can guess what happens if there was an error.
Putting It All Together
Asynchronous code and first class functions are two of the most confusing parts about javascript, and once you understand these two concepts, you'll be in a great spot, although it may take a while to get there. So it's important to think carefully about it and experiment. Let's talk through a couple ways to handle the example you are working with here, about jquery ajax.
First, we can try making our own function and passing the name of the function to the success handler. Then when it comes back, it will call the function. Let's take a look:
var my_callback = function(data){
console.log(data);
}
$.ajax({
url: 'http://google.com',
success: my_callback
});
This is an interesting way of doing it. Here we have assigned an anonymous function to a variable, then passed the variable name to the success handler. This will work fine. Now let's try another way:
function my_callback(data){
console.log(data);
}
$.ajax({
url: 'http://google.com',
success: my_callback
});
Here, we define a named function and do the same thing. This will work the same way. Named functions in javascript can actually be declared after the are used, so you could move the function declaration below the ajax call and it would still work. Try this out. This is a nice advantage to named functions.
Finally, let's take a look at a third way we could handle it:
$.ajax({
url: 'http://google.com',
success: function(data){
console.log(data);
}
});
Here, we define an anonymous function right inline on the success handler. This works exactly the same as either of the other two options. In all three of these ways, jquery receives a function declaration, and calls it when it needs to, which is after the ajax request has come back.
I know this is a super long answer, but what you are confused about here are some of the core concepts of javascript, and I thought it would be more helpful to go over them here than to just solve your problem and give you the answer without explanation of the concepts. In fact, I haven't actually tackled your problem here at all, but you will easily be able to solve it yourself after understanding these concepts. If you are still having trouble, drop a comment and I'll try to clarify more.
Given the above code, you would call it like this within your submit handler:
var values = '…';
checkDuplicateIndex(values, function(returnValue) {
alert(returnValue);
// additional processing here...
});

setting a property on a model in an ajax callback

I'm trying to set a property on a model in an ajax callback that I can use later, and I'm not sure if I can do this.
var self = this;
$.ajax {
self.views.someProperty = // something i get back from the server
}
then later do something with this.views.someProperty. Currently I get this.views.someProperty is undefined. I was wondering if I'm going about this correctly or not.
First off, you code snippet doesn't really make sense. $.ajax() calls a callback function when it's done with the result it retrieved and your code snippet doesn't show that proper form.
Assuming you are properly specifying a callback function, here are some other possible issues:
Timing - the result of the ajax call will not be available until AFTER the completion callback is called. This is some time later after $.ajax() is called. The result will not be available in code that executes right after $.ajax().
Does self.views exist already? If not, then setting self.views.someProperty would cause an error and would not work.
When you access this.views.someProperty later, you obviously need to make sure that this is the right value.
You can check the first item by putting a console.log("ajax call finished") in your ajax completion callback and a console.log("accessing someProperty") right before you try to access the value and then verify that the ajax completion is called before you try to access it.
You can check items 2 and 3 by examining the data in the debugger to make sure everything is what you intend.

Modify global javascript variable inside a function

I'm trying clone a json object inside a function wanting to access the object outside the function. But when function is done, the object still seems to be undefined. Seems like it's not the same variable?
var jsonUserObj;
$.getJSON("user.json", function(content){
jsonUserObj = $.parseJSON(JSON.stringify(content));
console.log(content);
console.log(jsonUserObj); //looks fine!
});
console.log(jsonUserObj); //undefined
inside the callback function it contains all the data, but it does not remain outside of it. How to make it assessible globally?
$.getJSON is asynchronous so console.log at the end of your code runs before $.getJSON returns its result.
You should modify the variable inside the callback (where it looks fine) and then use the variable inside that function, this callback is the only place where you can guarantee your variable is set.
You could also use the synchronous version of $.ajax but that's really not recommended (and probably unnecessary).
You got a typo:
console.log(jsonUserObject);
It should be
console.log(jsonUserObj);
You need to declare var jsonUserObj outside a function.
Also it looks like you have a typeo, is it jsonUserObj or jsonUserObject?
Could it be a question of timing? If that getJSON method is firing asynchronously then it may not have returned it's value by the time you have fired the last line. Does that make sense?
$.getJSON performs an ajax call, which is asynchronous. The code after it will continue evaluating while it waits for a response. When the response comes back, the program flow will jump back into the success/error/complete handlers of the ajax call.
tldr: Anything you do with data from an ajax call must be in the success handler of that ajax call.

Possible Javascript scope issue

I'm sort of a noob with this so please forgive me :)
I can't get this one part of the function to update the variable. Could anyone possibly take a look a see what I'm doing wrong?
http://pastie.org/private/zfnv8v2astglabluo89ta
From line 142 thru 172 I'm not getting any results in the end. I've tested inside that function to make sure it is actually returning data, but the "body" variable is passing back up after line 172. So if I look at my generated HTML on the page, it simply looks the function skips from 140 to 174.
Thanks for any feedback!!
Your $.get is asynchronous. That means it will finish sometime AFTER the rest of the code, thus you won't see it's effect on the body variable inside that function. Instead, it's success callback function will be called long after this function has already finished.
To chain multiple asynchronous ajax calls like you have here, you can't just use normal sequential programming because asynchronous ajax calls aren't sequential. The network request is sent, then your javascript continues executing and SOMETIME LATER when the response arrives, the success handler is called and is executed.
To run sequential ajax calls like you have, you have to nest the work inside the success handler so that the ONLY code that uses the response is actually in the success handler. In pseudo-code, it looks like this:
$.get(..., function(data) {
// operate on the results only in here
// a second ajax function that uses the data from the first
// or adds onto the data from the first
$.get(..., function(data) {
// now finally, you have all the data
// so you can continue on with your logic here
});
// DO NOT PUT ANYTHING HERE that uses the responses from the ajax calls
// because that data will not yet be available here
});
You cannot do what you're doing which is like this:
var myVariable;
$.get(..., function(data) {
// add something to myVariable
});
$.get(..., function(data) {
// add something to myVariable
});
$.get(..., function(data) {
// add something to myVariable
});
// do something with myVariable
None of those ajax calls will have completed before the end of your function. You have to follow a design pattern like in my first example.
For more advanced tools, one can always use jQuery deferreds which are just a different way of defining code to run after an ajax call is done. It looks a little more like sequential programming even though it's really just scheduling code to run the same way my first code example does.
Function 8 will be invoke after line 174-180. You must put code from 174-180 line to the end of function

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