THE WORLD'S LARGEST WEB DEVELOPER SITE

XML Tutorial

XML HOME XML Introduction XML How to use XML Tree XML Syntax XML Elements XML Attributes XML Namespaces XML Display XML HttpRequest XML Parser XML DOM XML XPath XML XSLT XML XQuery XML XLink XML Validator XML DTD XML Schema XML Server XML Examples XML Quiz XML Certificate

XML AJAX

AJAX Introduction AJAX XMLHttp AJAX Request AJAX Response AJAX XML File AJAX PHP AJAX ASP AJAX Database AJAX Applications AJAX Examples

XML DOM

DOM Introduction DOM Nodes DOM Accessing DOM Node Info DOM Node List DOM Traversing DOM Navigating DOM Get Values DOM Change Nodes DOM Remove Nodes DOM Replace Nodes DOM Create Nodes DOM Add Nodes DOM Clone Nodes DOM Examples

XPath Tutorial

XPath Introduction XPath Nodes XPath Syntax XPath Axes XPath Operators XPath Examples

XSLT Tutorial

XSLT Introduction XSL Languages XSLT Transform XSLT <template> XSLT <value-of> XSLT <for-each> XSLT <sort> XSLT <if> XSLT <choose> XSLT Apply XSLT on the Client XSLT on the Server XSLT Edit XML XSLT Examples

XQuery Tutorial

XQuery Introduction XQuery Example XQuery FLWOR XQuery HTML XQuery Terms XQuery Syntax XQuery Add XQuery Select XQuery Functions

XML DTD

DTD Introduction DTD Building Blocks DTD Elements DTD Attributes DTD Elements vs Attr DTD Entities DTD Examples

XSD Schema

XSD Introduction XSD How To XSD <schema> XSD Elements XSD Attributes XSD Restrictions

XSD Complex

XSD Elements XSD Empty XSD Elements Only XSD Text Only XSD Mixed XSD Indicators XSD <any> XSD <anyAttribute> XSD Substitution XSD Example

XSD Data

XSD String XSD Date XSD Numeric XSD Misc XSD Reference

Web Services

XML Services XML WSDL XML SOAP XML RDF XML RSS

References

DOM Node Types DOM Node DOM NodeList DOM NamedNodeMap DOM Document DOM Element DOM Attribute DOM Text DOM CDATA DOM Comment DOM XMLHttpRequest DOM Parser XSLT Elements XSLT/XPath Functions

AJAX PHP Example


AJAX is used to create more interactive applications.


AJAX PHP Example

The following example demonstrates how a web page can communicate with a web server while a user types characters in an input field:

Example

Start typing a name in the input field below:

First name:   Suggestions:



Example Explained

In the example above, when a user types a character in the input field, a function called "showHint()" is executed.

The function is triggered by the onkeyup event.

Here is the HTML code:

Example

<html>
<head>
<script>
function showHint(str) {
    if (str.length == 0) {
        document.getElementById("txtHint").innerHTML = "";
        return;
    } else {
        var xmlhttp = new XMLHttpRequest();
        xmlhttp.onreadystatechange = function() {
            if (this.readyState == 4 && this.status == 200) {
                document.getElementById("txtHint").innerHTML = this.responseText;
            }
        };
        xmlhttp.open("GET", "gethint.php?q=" + str, true);
        xmlhttp.send();
    }
}
</script>
</head>
<body>

<p><b>Start typing a name in the input field below:</b></p>
<form>
First name: <input type="text" onkeyup="showHint(this.value)">
</form>
<p>Suggestions: <span id="txtHint"></span></p>
</body>
</html>
Try it Yourself »

Code explanation:

First, check if the input field is empty (str.length == 0). If it is, clear the content of the txtHint placeholder and exit the function.

However, if the input field is not empty, do the following:

  • Create an XMLHttpRequest object
  • Create the function to be executed when the server response is ready
  • Send the request off to a PHP file (gethint.php) on the server
  • Notice that q parameter is added gethint.php?q="+str
  • The str variable holds the content of the input field


The PHP File - "gethint.php"

The PHP file checks an array of names, and returns the corresponding name(s) to the browser:

<?php
// Array with names
$a[] = "Anna";
$a[] = "Brittany";
$a[] = "Cinderella";
$a[] = "Diana";
$a[] = "Eva";
$a[] = "Fiona";
$a[] = "Gunda";
$a[] = "Hege";
$a[] = "Inga";
$a[] = "Johanna";
$a[] = "Kitty";
$a[] = "Linda";
$a[] = "Nina";
$a[] = "Ophelia";
$a[] = "Petunia";
$a[] = "Amanda";
$a[] = "Raquel";
$a[] = "Cindy";
$a[] = "Doris";
$a[] = "Eve";
$a[] = "Evita";
$a[] = "Sunniva";
$a[] = "Tove";
$a[] = "Unni";
$a[] = "Violet";
$a[] = "Liza";
$a[] = "Elizabeth";
$a[] = "Ellen";
$a[] = "Wenche";
$a[] = "Vicky";

// get the q parameter from URL
$q = $_REQUEST["q"];

$hint = "";

// lookup all hints from array if $q is different from ""
if ($q !== "") {
    $q = strtolower($q);
    $len=strlen($q);
    foreach($a as $name) {
        if (stristr($q, substr($name, 0, $len))) {
            if ($hint === "") {
                $hint = $name;
            } else {
                $hint .= ", $name";
            }
        }
    }
}

// Output "no suggestion" if no hint was found or output correct values
echo $hint === "" ? "no suggestion" : $hint;
?>