unable to print array returned by AJAX with javascript

Question

function getWriters(cat, lev, id)   
{
    if (window.XMLHttpRequest) { // code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari
        xmlhttp = new XMLHttpRequest();
    }
    else { // code for IE6, IE5
        xmlhttp = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
    }
    xmlhttp.onreadystatechange = function() {
        if (xmlhttp.readyState == 4 && xmlhttp.status == 200)

        {

            document.getElementById("writer").innerHTML = xmlhttp.responseText;
            var writer = eval(xmlhttp.responseText);
            document.write(writer)
        }


    }

    xmlhttp.open("GET", "order.php?op=2&id=0&cat=" + cat + "&lev=" + lev, true);
    xmlhttp.send();


}

xmlhttp.responseText returns

Array ( [0] => Array ( [name] => Unassigned [user_id] => 2 [writing_level] => [writing_category] => ) [1] => Array ( [name] => arsalan [user_id] => 3 [writing_level] => [writing_category] => ) [2] => Array ( [name] => Shazia [user_id] => 4 [writing_level] => [writing_category] => ) [3] => Array ( [name] => janea [user_id] => 5 [writing_level] => [writing_category] => ) [4] => Array ( [name] => s [user_id] => 6 [writing_level] => [writing_category] => ) [5] => Array ( [name] => iuiui [user_id] => 8 [writing_level] => [writing_category] => ) [6] => Array ( [name] => demo [user_id] => 9 [writing_level] => [writing_category] => ) [7] => Array ( [name] => wewe [user_id] => 10 [writing_level] => [writing_category] => ) [8] => Array ( [name] => Muhammad Zoyeb [user_id] => 11 [writing_level] => [writing_category] => ) [9] => Array ( [name] => Atif Rauf Alvi [user_id] => 12 [writing_level] => [writing_category] => ) [10] => Array ( [name] => demo-1 [user_id] => 13 [writing_level] => [writing_category] => ) [11] => Array ( [name] => ffff** [user_id] => 14 [writing_level] => High School,Masters [writing_category] => Literature and Language,Social Sciences ) )

i am getting syntax error at document.write(writer); if i remove eval() there is no syntax error.

Can anyone explain how to fix this or some other way to convert the string returned to array.

Thanks

You might want to use a framework like jQuery or Prototype for a real site. Install Firebug and see what you get when you console.log(xmlhttp.responseText) — Alec Smart
– Alec Smart, Commented Feb 22, 2011 at 11:33

Community · Accepted Answer · 2023-11-17 20:29:45Z

3

The string being returned from the server isn't valid JSON or JavaScript syntax, so you can't pass it to eval(). It looks like you're using PHP's print_r function on the array at the server — you need to use json_encode (PHP >5.2):

echo json_encode($myArray);

Then you can parse it locally with JSON.parse (recommended) or eval.

edited Nov 17, 2023 at 20:29

CommunityBot

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answered Feb 22, 2011 at 11:33

Andy E

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Lightness Races in Orbit · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-22 11:31:39Z

0

It looks like your JSON response is the stringifed version of a PHP array. Why not return JSON from your PHP, then Javascript picks up the array natively.

answered Feb 22, 2011 at 11:31

Lightness Races in Orbit

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napolux · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-22 11:32:26Z

0

You're returning the PHP "representation" of an array and by evaluating this string you fall into the syntax error.

Try this:

Return the array from the PHP as a comma-separated string
Explode the string in JS and put it into an array (if you need a JS array, otherwise print it and stop)

To split a string use:

var response = xmlhttp.responseText;
var responseArray = response.split(",");

answered Feb 22, 2011 at 11:32

napolux

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