Make the return value of a PHP function equal to a javascript variable?

Question

I have a php function that pull data from the database and return html code which is a code for a drop down menu. What I need to do is append this drop down menu to the div using jQuery. The problem that I am having is how can I assign the return value from php into a jQuery variable?

function returnUserNames(){
//open connection to the database

return 'this an html code that should be returned by this function';

}

I have tried the following but it is not working.

<script>
var menu = <?php echo returnUserNames() ?>;
$('#show_menu').append(menu);
</script>

Thanks

I did add a quote but I get a "Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected string" error — Jaylen
– Jaylen, Commented Sep 9, 2013 at 20:11

Marc B · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-09 20:12:08Z

4

Your PHP code is generating text that is going directly into a Javascript context, meaning that you have to generate VALID javascript code. As it stands now, your code will produce

var menu = this an html code that should be returned by this function;

which is an outright javascript syntax error. Never EVER directly output text from PHP into a javascript context like this. Always use json_encode() to ensure that whatever you're outputting becomes syntactically valid Javascript, e.g.:

var menu = <?php echo json_encode(returnUserNames()) ?>;
                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^

which will produce:

var menu = 'this an html code that should be returned by this function';

Note how the ' quotes were automatically added.

answered Sep 9, 2013 at 20:12

Marc B

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1 Comment

Jaylen Over a year ago

Thank you. This was the solution :)

Andy G · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-09 20:16:56Z

2

You have misspelt return and script.

var menu = <?php echo returnUserNames() ?>;

this whole php-script also needs to be enclosed in quotation marks:

var menu = "<?php echo returnUserNames() ?>";

And your jQuery script shouldn't run until the page is loaded, and #show_menu is available.

edited Sep 9, 2013 at 20:16

answered Sep 9, 2013 at 20:03

Andy G

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2 Comments

Jaylen Over a year ago

Thanks for poiting out the typos. Those are typos in this page and not in the actual script. The error that i get is "Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected string"

Andy G Over a year ago

Please always copy and paste the real script, don't attempt to re-type it. As you have seen, you can introduce errors that aren't relevant to the question. Marc recommends another approach that wouldn't require the quotes.

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