• 0

[jQuery] Submitting a form

Asked by Shazer2,

 Share

Question

Enthusiast

Shazer2

Posted
Posted

I am trying to make something where you can post, and with jQuery it submits (no refresh or parsing via another page) and inserts the data into the DB. The code I am using for the jQuery is in my <head> and this is the code:

&lt;script type="text/javascript" src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.3.0/jquery.min.js"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
    &lt;script type="text/javascript" &gt;
    $(function() {
        $(".submit").click(function() {
            var np = $("#np").val();
            $.ajax({
                type: "POST",
                url: "inc/ajax.php",
                data: np,
                success: function(){
                    $('.success').fadeIn(200).show();
                    $('.error').fadeOut(200).hide();
                }
            });
        }
        return false;
    });
    &lt;/script&gt;

I then have the following in ajax.php and I am 100% certain it's in the correct directory.

&lt;?php

/**
 * @author Shannon
 * @copyright 2011
 */
session_start();
include ("connect.php");

$user = $_SESSION['username'];
$np = $_POST['np'];
$np = mysql_real_escape_string($np);   

mysql_query("INSERT INTO `posts` (user, np) VALUES ('$user', '$np')") or die(mysql_error());  
?&gt;

That is all correct too, but it just doesn't seem to insert into the database. If anyone has an idea why, please post a reply.

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/990268-jquery-submitting-a-form/
Share on other sites

17 answers to this question

Recommended Posts

  • 0
Grand Master

Rob Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

Let's do some basic debugging techniques to see what's going on.

First, in your JavaScript, make liberal use of console.log('something'); to see what's actually being sent (check the output in your browser's console of choice, be it Firebug/Web Inspector etc.) Ensure that your np variable contains what you think it contains. And ensure that the Ajax request runs, completes and doesn't error out (again, Firebug/Web Inspector).

Once you're happy your JavaScript is behaving itself, do the same with PHP - output variables to a log file if you like, check to see the status of any database connections.

Use a process of elimination to work out exactly where the problem is occurring by ensuring each step is completing successfully.

  • 0
Enthusiast

Shazer2

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Rob, this is the first time using JavaScript so I don't know ANY functions. This was merely copied off a site to see if I could get it to work. Obviously I couldn't so I resulted here asking for assistance. I don't know the problem and don't really know what to do to find out. I'm pretty efficient in PHP however, just not JS.

Anymore help you can give?

  • 0
Enthusiast

Shazer2

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I'm running it as a PHP file (still works) but:

&lt;?php
session_start();
include("inc/connect.php");
?&gt;
&lt;html&gt;
&lt;head&gt;
    &lt;title&gt;Home&lt;/title&gt;
    &lt;link rel="stylesheet" href="inc/style.css" type="text/css" /&gt;
    &lt;script type="text/javascript" src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.3.0/jquery.min.js"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
    &lt;script type="text/javascript" &gt;
    $(function() {
        $(".submit").click(function() {
            var np = $("#np").val();
            $.ajax({
                type: "POST",
                url: "inc/ajax.php",
                data: np,
                success: function(){
                    $('.success').fadeIn(200).show();
                    $('.error').fadeOut(200).hide();
                }
            });
        }
        return false;
    });
    &lt;/script&gt;

&lt;/head&gt;
&lt;body&gt;
    &lt;div align="center"&gt;
        &lt;div class="header"&gt;
            &lt;div class="logo"&gt;
                &lt;a href="index.php"&gt;&lt;img src="inc/logo.png" alt="Logo" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
            &lt;/div&gt;

            &lt;?php
            $user = $_SESSION['username'];

            if (!$user) {
                header("location:login.php");
            }
            ?&gt;

            &lt;div class="useri"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;

            &lt;?php echo "Logged in as: &lt;a href='#'&gt;".$user."&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"; ?&gt;

            &lt;a href="logout.php"&gt;Logout&lt;/a&gt;
            &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;

            &lt;div class="newsbox"&gt;
                    &lt;u&gt;&lt;b&gt;News&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;
                    &lt;?php
                    $sql = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM `feed`") or die(mysql_error());
                    while ($rnews = mysql_fetch_array($sql)) {
                        echo $rnews['news']."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;";
                    }
                    ?&gt;
            &lt;/div&gt;

            &lt;div class="updatebox"&gt;
            &lt;u&gt;&lt;b&gt;Updates&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;
            &lt;?php
            $sql = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM `feed`") or die(mysql_error());
            while ($rupdate = mysql_fetch_array($sql)) {
                echo $rupdate['update']."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;";
            }
            ?&gt;
            &lt;/div&gt;

            &lt;div class="newspost"&gt;
            &lt;form id="submit" name="submit" method="POST"&gt; 
            &lt;input name="np" type="text" id="np" style="margin-left: 1px; margin-right: 1px; width: 99%;" /&gt;
            &lt;input name="sub" type="submit" id="sub" style="float: right;" value="Post!" /&gt;
            &lt;/form&gt;
            &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;

        &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/body&gt;
&lt;/html&gt;

  • 0
Grand Master

Rob Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

First problem I can see is this line:

$(".submit").click(function() {

This means 'run this function when an element with a class of 'submit' is clicked'.

Fastforward to your HTML, and you'll see your Submit button doesn't have a class of 'submit' at all! So our JavaScript function is never being called, and no Ajax request is made. What your button does have, however, is an ID of 'sub'...

Replace that line with this, and try again:

$("#sub").click(function() {

  • 0
Grand Master

Rob Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

You're also missing the closing bracket for the click event declaration.

&lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;
   $(function() {
      $("#sub").click(function() {
         var np = $("#np").val();
         $.ajax({
            type: "POST",
            url: "inc/ajax.php",
            data: np,
            success: function(){
               $('.success').fadeIn(200).show();
               $('.error').fadeOut(200).hide();
            }
         });
         return false;
      });
   });
&lt;/script&gt;

  • 0
Enthusiast

Shazer2

Posted
  • Author
Posted

We are making progress. It now opens up a new entry in the database but isn't sending any of the data to the database. It leaves both fields (np, user) empty. Another problem, it doesn't auto refresh after it is posted or submitted.

What I want it to do is when it posts it, clear the textbox and have a little message underneath saying success.

  • 0
Grand Master

Rob Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

Now your problem is that your PHP is expecting data in a variable called np, but your JavaScript is just sending the value of a textbox that happens to be called np as well. So if we change this one line to this:

data: {np:np},

You can see we're now saying 'send the value we've put into local variable np to the server, labelled 'np'.

I'm not able to help much more I'm afraid. You mention you want a little message saying success, but nowhere in your HTML do you have anything like that. So I think you need to learn a little more about how HTML works, and the basics of JavaScript and then this will start to make a bit more sense. Right now you're just copying and pasting stuff... which is how we all start, but to customize this you really need to understand the fundamentals first.

Good luck :)

  • 0
Enthusiast

Shazer2

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Updated last post with what I wanted the resulting outcome to be, that seems to work (inserts np into database) but it isn't inserting the user in. To get the user logged in I use sessions (obviously), so what I am wondering is with JavaScript can you make a var hold the value of a PHP session. If not, I am determining the user in the ajax.php file, but it doesn't seem to want to add that into the database.

So where we are at: it inserts np into the database but doesn't insert user. We still need to say if the post succeeded or failed too. I do know HTML but don't know how to incorporate it into JavaScript to display the message. I just need a little more explanation Rob. I learned PHP this way too, when I didn't understand something after looking it up, I went and asked places. I am now half decent with PHP but just a beginner with JavaScript.

  • 0
Grand Master

Rob Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

Hint: try to work out what this line of code is supposed to do, based on what we've discussed here previously and by looking into the appropriate jQuery documentation. Once you understand that, you'll see what you need to do to get a success or failure message.

$('.success').fadeIn(200).show();

  • 0
Enthusiast

Shazer2

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I've looked at that line multiple times Rob. I know it displays the fail or success but I'm not sure how to use it. I even added a part in my CSS file (.success) because I thought that is what was needed.

Can you explain to me what this does, or at least direct me to a page that will give me a brief idea of how to use it and what it does?

  • 0
Grand Master

Rob Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

Just heading to bed, but here's a line-by-line description of the JS:

&lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;
   $(function() {                                   // Run this function when both jQuery and the DOM is ready
      $("#sub").click(function() {                  // When the element with an ID of 'sub' is clicked, run this function
         var npMessage = $("#np").val();            // Set the value of the element with an ID of 'np' into a variable called 'npMessage'
         $.ajax({                                   // Start an Ajax request
            type: "POST",                           // ... of type 'POST'
            url: "inc/ajax.php",                    // ... to this URL
            data: {np:npMessage},                   // Sending the value of npMessage (set earlier) under the name 'np'
            success: function(){                    // If the Ajax request succeeds, run this function
               $('.success').fadeIn(200).show();    // Fade in any HTML elements with a class of 'success' on the page, then show them (last bit is redundant)
               $('.error').fadeOut(200).hide();     // Fade out any HTML elements with a class of 'error' on the page, then hide them (last bit is redundant)
            }                                       // End of the success method
         });                                        // End of the Ajax request
         return false;                              // Prevent the normal behaviour of the button (submitting the page in a non-Ajax way)
      });                                           // End of the click handler
   });                                              // End of the jQuery DOM ready handler
&lt;/script&gt;

jQuery documentation - for more information on the $.ajax function.

Firebug - a browser plugin for Firefox that helps visually show Ajax requests and whether they succeed

  • 0
Enthusiast

Shazer2

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks. I just don't understand how to display the success message or the failed message. I know I need to do something like:

&lt;div class="success"&gt;Success!&lt;/div&gt;

somewhere in the page, but I don't know where, unless it's in a called function it's just going to constantly be displayed. Not sure if you will see this before you go to bed, but if you do please reply to this one. If you do see it, please also tell me how to clear the textbox after everything has been submitted.

  • 0
Enthusiast

Shazer2

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Sort of had it working, but now the messages won't display. I realise I have to make 2 spans with error and success, and set display to none. I then fade it in when it has the right stuff entered and fade out success and fade in error when it doesn't.

It seems to be having trouble though with the following code, not sure why it is doing it.

&lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;
    $(function() {  
        $("#sub").click(function() {    
            var npMessage = $("#np").val(); 

            if (npMessage=='') {
                $('.success').fadeOut(200).hide();
                $('.error').fadeIn(200).show(); 
            } else {
                $.ajax({   
                    type: "POST",  
                    url: "inc/ajax.php", 
                    data: {np:npMessage},
                    success: function(){ 
                        $('.success').fadeIn(200).show();
                        $('.error').fadeOut(200).hide();
                    }
                });
            return false;   
            });
        });
    &lt;/script&gt;

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to question listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Posts

    • You've tried DuckDuckGo and Brave Search, now get serious with SearXNG

      By Som · Posted

      I was using searxng for about a year , self hosted, but results were starting to timeout and eventually it became unusable so I switched to degoog. Much better for my needs, more polished and add-ons like maps and calculations etc
    • Politically funny images of the World

      By PsYcHoKiLLa · Posted

      Fake Superman doing the Anti-Trump PR for us, good man !
    • Laptop Processor Question

      By goretsky · Posted

      Hello, I am not as familiar with AMD CPUs as I am with Intel's, but as I understand it, that's a mid-range CPU from about three years ago.  I would think it to be fine for everyday casual-type use.  A larger SSD might be better, but with storage prices these days that's a decision that has to be carefully thought about. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky  
    • Politically funny images of the World

      By PsYcHoKiLLa · Posted

    • Ocenaudio 3.19.5

      By Copernic · Posted

      Ocenaudio 3.19.5 by Razvan Serea  Ocenaudio is a full featured, fast and easy to use audio and music editor. It is the ideal software for people who need to edit and analyze audio files without complications. Ocenaudio also has powerful features that will please more advanced users. To assist ocenaudio development, a powerful toolset of audio editing, analysis and manipulation called Ocen Framework was created. ocenaudio is also based on Qt framework, a well known library for cross-platform development. Cross-platform support ocenaudio is available for all major operating systems: Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Native applications are generated for each platform from a common source, in order to achieve excelent performance and seamless integration with the operating system. All versions of ocenaudio have a uniform set of features and the same graphical interface, so the skills you learn in one platform can be used in the others. VST plugins support Ocenaudio supports VST (Virtual Studio Technology) plugins, giving its users access to numerous effects. Like the native effects, VST effects can use real-time preview to aide configuration. Real-time preview of effects Applying effects such as EQ, gain and filtering is an important part of audio editing. However, it is very tricky to get the desired result by adjusting the controls configuration alone: you must listen the processed audio. To ease the configuration of audio effects, ocenaudio has a real time preview feature: you hear the processed signal while adjusting the controls. The effect configuration window also includes a miniature view of the selected audio signal. You can navigate on this miniature view in the same way as you do on the main interface, selecting parts that interest you and listening to the effect result in real time. Multiselection for delicate editions To speed up complex audio files editing, ocenaudio includes multi-selection. With this amazing tool, you can simultaneously select different portions of an audio file and listen, edit or even apply an effect to them. For example, if you want to normalize only the excerpts of an interview where the interviewee is talking, just select them and apply the effect. Eficient edition of large files With ocenaudio, there is no limit to the length or the quantity of the audio files you can edit. Using an advanced memory management system, the application keeps your files open without wasting any of your computer's memory. Even in files several hours long, common editing operations such as copy, cut or paste happen almost instantly. Fully featured spectrogram Besides offering an incredible waveform view of your audio files, ocenaudio has a powerful and complete spectrogram view. In this view, you can analyze the spectral content of your audio signal with maximum clarity. Advanced users will be surprised to find that the spectrogram settings are applied in real time. The display is updated immediately when altering features such as the number of frequency bands, window type and size and dynamic range of the display. Ocenaudio 3.19.5 changelog: Fixes crashes related to audio devices on Windows (DirectSound and ASIO) Fixes several crashes and memory corruption issues Fixes opening several headerless files at once, which previously dropped all but one Improves batch export by suggesting and remembering the destination folder Fixes accented and non-Latin characters in VST plug-in and compressed-archive file names Adds zstd compression support and updates the archive library Other bug fixes and improvements Download: Ocenaudio 64-bit | Portable | ~40.0 MB (Freeware) Download: Ocenaudio for Linux and Mac OS View: Ocenaudio Homepage | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware

  • Recent Achievements

    • One Month Later
      Excellence2025 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Excellence2025 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      flexorcist earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Woland13 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Woland13 earned a badge
      Week One Done

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      501
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      204
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      145
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      72
    5. 5
      FloatingFatMan
      68
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!