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Embed JS that passes a variable to PHP to request more JS code

Answer 1

+3 A:

Right, well this line:

<script type='text/javascript' src='http://www.mysite.com/widget.php?mid=12&amp;c=visitor_countrycode'&gt;
</script>

...is simply retrieving the URL, "http://www.mysite.com/widget.php?mid=12&c=visitor_countrycode". The variable isn't being evaluated -- it's being passed as a plain parameter.

If you want to grab a dynamically-generated URL, you have to create a new <script> element and append it to the head. Like so:

var visitor_countrycode = 'foo';

// create the new script element
var script_element = document.createElement('script');

// visitor_countrycode will be evaluated here.
script_element.src = 'http://www.mysite.com/widget.php?mid=12&amp;c=' + visitor_countrycode;

// this gets the <head>, and then appends the newly-created script element.
document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(script_element);

Voila.

bigmattyh 2009-08-15 16:19:21

Awesome idea. I tried it but I got: "document.createNode is not a function" from firebug. I must be doing something wrong?

Abs 2009-08-15 16:45:40

gah, try createElement instead.

bigmattyh 2009-08-15 17:03:52

Will this work in IE as well? Also I tried this but the JS code doesn't appear in the head. The one that the PHp script should output. I guess it shouldn't but what I want to appear doesn't appear. Is there anything else I need to make sure of.

Abs 2009-08-15 17:07:47

Isn't it suppose to be .src and not .href on the script element?

AntonioCS 2009-08-15 17:09:30

Yep, that did the job. Will this work across all browsers though?

Abs 2009-08-15 17:18:32

I have received the output of the external php script. However, that output doesn't appear. I have changed to append to body. Do I need to use write to?

Abs 2009-08-15 17:23:59

Yes, it was supposed to be "src", not "href". This is what happens when you type out code on the fly and don't test. :)

bigmattyh 2009-08-15 17:35:25

Abs, yes, it should work in any modern browser. If you are using jQuery or some other library that is meant to abstract out the differences between browsers, you can use the same approach (adding a script element to the head), but adjusting your syntax accordingly.

bigmattyh 2009-08-15 17:37:07

Awesome! Thank you very much bigmattyh. :)

Abs 2009-08-15 17:52:12

Answer 2

A:

You could use a simple HTTP request to call that PHP script as well, that way you could even take the result and do something based on whether the PHP script handled your request correctly or not.

<script type="text/javascript">
var http = false;

if(google.loader.ClientLocation)
{
    visitor_countrycode = google.loader.ClientLocation.address.country_code;

    if(navigator.appName == "Microsoft Internet Explorer") {
        http = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
    } else {
        http = new XMLHttpRequest();
    }

    http.open("GET", 'http://www.mysite.com/widget.php?mid=12&amp;c=' + visitor_countrycode);
    http.send(null);
}
</script>

tijs 2009-08-15 16:24:37

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Embed JS that passes a variable to PHP to request more JS code

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