jQuery ajax returning 'Object Object'

Question

I am trying to send data to a PHP script using jQuery Ajax. For some reason the Ajax request is throwing up an error and returning the following data from the PHP script - [object Object]

I've copied my code in below. I've also copied code using the exact same method elsewhere on the page which seems to work fine!

Can anyone explain why this is happening?

Firstly, the code that is working fine

jQuery

 $("#reqtable a").click(function(){
  var cells = []; 
  var name;
  var account;
  var module;
  var email;
  $(this).parent().parent().find("td").each(function(){
  cells.push($(this).html());
  });
  $(this).parent().parent().find("input").each(function(){
  email = $(this).val();
  });
  $(this).parent().parent().prop('id', 'die');
  name = cells[0];
  account = cells[1];
  module = cells [2];

  $.ajax({
            url: "release.php",
            type: "POST",
            data: {name: name, account: account, module: module, email: email},
            success: function(){
            $("#die").remove();
           }
         });
 });

PHP

<?php
include('../../dbconnect.php');

$name = $_POST['name'];
$account = $_POST['account'];
$email = $_POST['email'];
$module = $_POST['module'];

$releasequery = "INSERT INTO release_assignment(name, account, email, module) VALUES ('$name', '$account', '$email', '$module')";
$release = $conn->query($releasequery);

$erasequery = "DELETE FROM request_assignment WHERE email='$email' AND module = $module";
$erase = $conn->query($erasequery);

?>

And now the code that IS NOT working.

jQuery

 $("#downloadtable a").click(function(){
  var dlcells = []; 
  var dlname;
  var dlaccount;
  var dlmodule;
  var dlemail;
  var dlsub;
  var dlpath;

  $(this).parent().parent().find("td").each(function(){
  dlcells.push($(this).html());
  });
  $(this).parent().parent().find("input.dlemail").each(function(){
  dlemail = $(this).val();
  });
  $(this).parent().parent().find("input.dlsub").each(function(){
  dlsub = $(this).val();
  });
  $(this).parent().parent().find("input.dlpath").each(function(){
  dlpath = $(this).val();
  });

  $(this).parent().parent().prop('id', 'die2');
  dlname = dlcells[0];
  dlaccount = dlcells[1];
  dlmodule = dlcells [2];

  $.ajax({
            url: "download.php",
            type: "POST",
            data: {dlname: dlname, dlaccount: dlaccount, dlmodule: dlmodule, dlemail: dlemail, dlsub: dlsub, dlpath: dlpath},
            success: function(data){
            $("#die2").remove();
            },
            error: function(data){
             $('#downloaddiv').html('<p>' + data + '</p>');
            }
         });
 });

PHP

<?php
include('../../dbconnect.php');

$name = $_POST['dlname'];
$email = $_POST['dlemail'];
$account = $_POST['dlaccount'];
$module = $_POST['dlmodule'];
$path = $_POST['dlpath'];
$submission = $_POST['dlsub'];

$feedbackquery = "INSERT INTO feedback_assignments(name, email, level, unit, assignmentpath, submission) VALUES ('$name', $email, '$account', '$module', '$path', '$submission')";
$feedback = $conn->query($feedbackquery);

$erasequery = "DELETE FROM uploaded_assignments WHERE email='$email' AND unit = $module";
$erase = $conn->query($erasequery);

?>

When I comment out all the PHP code and simply put echo ($_POST['dlname']); it returns the data [object Object]

Can anyone explain what is going on and why it seems to work with one block of code but not the other?

Thanks!

Chris

Update: It might be worth mentioning that the initial link ('#downloadtable a') actually instigates a file download as well as the ajax call, whereas in the code that is working it simply makes the ajax call and nothing else. I don't know if this is throwing a spanner in the works but thought it worth mentioning.

Update 2: Using the jQuery Ajax error callback as described below I'm getting the following response:

{"readyState":0,"responseText":"","status":0,"statusText":"error"} 
AJAX error: error :

The code I've used in the error callback is as follows:

error: function(jqXHR, textStatus, errorThrown) {
   console.log(JSON.stringify(jqXHR));
   console.log("AJAX error: " + textStatus + ' : ' + errorThrown);
   }

Unfortunately I don't understand what this means. Can anyone shed any light on this?

Update 3 OK, I've found the reason for Ajax blowing up on me, and it relates to update number 1 (above). Basically because the link is to a file download (a .docx file) it seems to be causing the problem with ajax. When I change the link to href='#' instead of href="document.docx", the ajax and PHP script works.

This throws up a new question, of course - how can I get the link to download the file whilst simultaneously updating the database?

echo ($_POST['dlname']); why enclosed in parenths? Try this one echo $_POST['dlname']; — Jai
– Jai, Commented Mar 13, 2013 at 11:22
What happens if you add echo "success" to the end of the PHP script? — Anthony Grist
– Anthony Grist, Commented Mar 13, 2013 at 13:22
@Anthony Nothing - the script doesn't get that far. I think the problem lies somewhere in the Ajax script but I don't know where. At the moment it is defaulting to the 'error' callback - I've updated the original post to explain this — Chris
– Chris, Commented Mar 13, 2013 at 14:09
@Chris The success and error callbacks shouldn't be executed until after the request has been sent to the server and a response has been retrieved, though. — Anthony Grist
– Anthony Grist, Commented Mar 13, 2013 at 14:11
@Anthony Does that mean that the error lies with the PHP script? Or is it that the values transmitted by Ajax are not recognised by PHP - they should be simple text values held in each of the jQuery variables — Chris
– Chris, Commented Mar 13, 2013 at 14:14

Stefan · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-13 13:29:55Z

1

Specify a dataType and use console to debug your data response.

Also, notice that the error callback contains the following arguments and not any "data";

error Type: Function( jqXHR jqXHR, String textStatus, String errorThrown )

Update

The target file download.php might be throwing an exception. Possibly because of some missing quotes around $email on the line;

$feedbackquery = "INSERT INTO feedback_assignments(name, email, level, unit, assignmentpath, submission) VALUES ('$name', $email, '$account', '$module', '$path', '$submission')";

Debug download.php and make sure it generates the expected output/response.

I advice you to escape the values you are using to build your SQL query with to prevent SQL injection.

edited Mar 13, 2013 at 13:29

answered Mar 13, 2013 at 11:16

Stefan

5,6624 gold badges28 silver badges32 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

3 Comments

Chris Over a year ago

Which datatype should I use? Data should purely be text which will be inserted into a database, but according to jQuery documentation the only choices are: xml, html, script and json. Also, I've now changed the error function to:

error: function(jqXHR, textStatus, errorThrown) {         console.log(JSON.stringify(jqXHR));         console.log("AJAX error: " + textStatus + ' : ' + errorThrown);  }

which returns the following : {"readyState":0,"responseText":"","status":0,"statusText":"error"} and AJAX error: error : - Unfortunately I don't have a clue what any of this means, can you help?

Anthony Grist Over a year ago

In their code data is the name of the parameter to which the value of the first argument (a jqXhr object) is passed. When that object is concatenated with strings - '<p>' + data + '</p>' - there's an implicit call to the objects .toString() function, which returns [Object object].

Chris Over a year ago

@Stefan - I've corrected the PHP script to include the missing quotes, but it hasn't worked. Point taken about escaping the values, I'll add that in once I've resolved this issue.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

jQuery ajax returning 'Object Object'

1 Answer 1

3 Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

3 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related