How to fix 'JSON Parse Error: unexpected identifier array' when making an AJAX Request

Question

I'm setting up a Contact Form Validation and i need the variable $msg from a php script 'sendEmail.php'. The actual mailing system is working, the script is receiving the form input's from index.php and is working(Successfully sending emails)... The thing is the 'success: function(data)' isn't working, and have been couple days trying to figure out what i'm doing wrong

I've tried to change to $.post function, compared a lot of examples similar, debugging with the 'error:' function...

The error displays on the console 'console.log(errorThrown)'

I'm using Safari and i get this from the XHRs folder from the sendEmail.php: Output:

array(3) {
  ["name"]=>
  string(12) "asfasfasfasf"
  ["email"]=>
  string(9) "asfasfasf"
  ["message"]=>
  string(0) ""
}
{"code":404,"msg":"Please fill in all fields"}

// AJAX Call
$.ajax({
  type: "POST",
  url: "php/sendEmail.php",
  dataType: "json",
  data: {
    name: name,
    email: email,
    message: message
  },
  success: function(data) {

  if (data.code == '200') {
    $('.alert-success').html(data.msg);
    $('.alert-success').css('display', 'block');
  } else {
    $('.alert-danger').html(data.msg);
    $('.alert-danger').css('display', 'block');
  }

  },error: function(jqXHR, textStatus, errorThrown) {
     console.log(errorThrown);
  }
});

// Error Message
$msg = '';

if (isset($_POST['name']) && isset($_POST['email']) && isset($_POST['message'])) {

    // Get Form Data
    $name = htmlspecialchars($_POST['name']);
    $email = htmlspecialchars($_POST['email']);
    $message = htmlspecialchars($_POST['message']);

    var_dump($_POST);

    // Verifications
    if (!empty($name) && !empty($email) && !empty($message)) {
        // Name Check
        if (strlen($name) <= 4 || strlen($name) >= 30) {
            $msg = 'Please type a name between 4 and 30 characters';
        } else {
            // Email Check
            if (!filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) {
                $msg = 'Please provide a valid email';
            } else {
                // Message Check
                if (strlen($message) < 10) {
                    $msg = 'Please provide a message superior to 10           characters';
                } else {
                    // Send Email
                        $msg = 'Email was sent successfully...';
                        echo json_encode(['code' => 200, 'msg' => $msg]);
                        exit;
                    } catch (Exception $e) {
                        $msg = 'Error: Email was not sent...';
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    } else {
        $msg = 'Please fill in all fields';
    }
}

echo json_encode(['code' => 404, 'msg' => $msg]);

``

Make sure you don't have any output before or after you echo the data (that includes spaces, line breaks etc). A good practice is also to have an exit; after you echo the json-data to prevent anything else being executed. Also, check the network tab in the browsers dev-tools when you make a request so you can see what it actually returns. It could be some error message further up in the file. — M. Eriksson
– M. Eriksson, Commented Sep 11, 2019 at 13:25
Please copy/paste your actual code instead of re-writing something similar by hand. — Patrick Q
– Patrick Q, Commented Sep 11, 2019 at 13:25

stan chacon · Accepted Answer · 2019-09-11 15:03:28Z

1

After checking you code and this:

array(3) {
  ["name"]=>
  string(12) "asfasfasfasf"
  ["email"]=>
  string(9) "asfasfasf"
  ["message"]=>
  string(0) ""
}
{"code":404,"msg":"Please fill in all fields"}

I realize that you have a var_dump in your code at this point:

if (isset($_POST['name']) && isset($_POST['email']) && isset($_POST['message'])) {

    // Get Form Data
    $name = htmlspecialchars($_POST['name']);
    $email = htmlspecialchars($_POST['email']);
    $message = htmlspecialchars($_POST['message']);

    var_dump($_POST); // <---- Remove this and everything should be okay

Hope it hepls

answered Sep 11, 2019 at 15:03

stan chacon

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