Go Back   vb.org Archive > vBulletin Article Depository > Read An Article > vBulletin 3 Articles
Reload this Page Intergrating AJAX Technology Into Your Modifications
FAQ Community Calendar Today's Posts Search

Reply
Page 3 of 4 12 3 4
 
Thread Tools
Intergrating AJAX Technology Into Your Modifications
Zero Tolerance's Avatar
Zero Tolerance
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 813

 

England
Show Printable Version Email this Page Subscription
Zero Tolerance Zero Tolerance is offline 07-30-2005, 10:00 PM
This How-To will show you how to use the defined AJAX functions within vBulletin so developers can see how easily it is to intergrate AJAX technology into modifictions. Please note this tutorial is aimed at developers with some javascript knowledge.

Step 1 - Understand AJAX:

As many of you will know, AJAX gives the ability to pass data through a stream and recieve any data returned with no reloading, so if you're thinking of intergrating AJAX then you must first have a scenario where you wish to push data and recieve it, recieval is not required however is probably the best part of AJAX in a users opinion due to the dynamic changes that occur to present the recieved data.

Step 2 - Setting Up AJAX:

Okay, so you want to set up AJAX, real easy, the first step is to create an AJAX Object, this can be done with ease using the vBulletin set-up, an example is below:
Code:
My_AJAX_Object = new vB_AJAX_Handler(true);
You'll notice the one and only passive variable here for the function 'vB_AJAX_Handler' is set to 'true', this determines wether to use asynchronous or not, set to false if you do not desire to use it, if you're unsure leave this set to true.

So now you have your AJAX Object set up, before firing data you'll need to to set the object to respond to a function for when it recieves data, an example is below:
Code:
My_AJAX_Object.onreadystatechange(My_AJAX_Reciever);
Here the parameter is not so much a variable, but infact a function name, in this case i put 'My_AJAX_Reciever', so that function must exist, an example function is below:
Code:
function My_AJAX_Reciever()
{
	if (My_AJAX_Object.handler.readyState == 4 && My_AJAX_Object.handler.status == 200 && My_AJAX_Object.handler.responseText)
	{
		alert('Data recieved successfully\n\n' + My_AJAX_Object.handler.responseText)
	}
}
This function pretty much checks the stream has loaded and sent data back to the browser, upon success it will alert you to say it was successful, and the data it recieved. How you handle the data is upto you.

Step 3 - Firing And Recieving Data:

So now you want to fire some data through AJAX, and get some back, let's first look how we fire data:
Code:
My_AJAX_Object.send('myfile.php', 'do=ajax&pagevar=text');
Let's take a quick overlook at the parameters used here:

Parameter 1 - The file you want to send the data to.
Parameter 2 - Post variables you want to send through.
In most cases your post variables (parameter 2) would fluxuate, and you may want to send some variables that users have inputted, if so you may want to take advantage of vBulletin's javascript emulation of urlencode(), first off you'd parse the variable in javascript before firing off, as shown below:
Code:
My_Variable = PHP.urlencode(My_Variable);
This makes the variable safe for the stream to send the data, however some characters will be broken, to fix these in your php when collecting the variable you would parse it like so:
PHP Code:
$My_Variable = convert_urlencoded_unicode($My_Variable); 
Okay, so you've now fired data off to 'myfile.php', with the variables: do (ajax) and pagevar (text). Now comes the PHP part, where you handle the data and output some back to be recieved:
PHP Code:
if ($_POST['do'] == 'ajax')
{
    echo $_POST['pagevar'];
    exit;
} 
Simple as that? Pretty much, ofcourse the desired data to be sent back due to the data sent is completely up to you, if you've set the javascript up with the examples used above you should get a message saying:
Quote:
Data recieved successfully

text
So if you're not sure, what the PHP outputs AJAX grabs, and just to ensure the script ends there it's best to make PHP stop execution of any code underneath by using exit;, this ofcourse it not required, just likely in most situations
Remember, to grab using AJAX what PHP outputted, the code is My_AJAX_Object.responseText

Final Line - Handling Data and Dynamics:

So you've managed to successfully fire some data off, and got some back, now you want to fiddle with it in Javascript and make changes to your page?
Then i'm afraid you're on your own for that job, how you handle the recieved data is completely upto you and the scenario you're using AJAX in.

If you wish to see more information on AJAX, i suggest you look at this tutorial i wrote a while ago for vBulletin.org, it includes more information on AJAX than posted here

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=81626

Any questions/problems reply here and i'll try to resolve them for you, the code above is all written off the top of my head, but i don't see any errors myself, feel free to report them to me though

- Zero Tolerance
Reply With Quote
  #22  
Old 08-02-2006, 05:02 PM
Andrew Green's Avatar
Andrew Green Andrew Green is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Winnipeg, MB
Posts: 996
Благодарил(а): 0 раз(а)
Поблагодарили: 0 раз(а) в 0 сообщениях
Default
Quote:
Originally Posted by rogersnm
DOES ANYONE HAVE A WORKING EXAMPLE OF THIS?

ok, here is a VERY stripped down demo as a standalone file, just put it in your main forum folder (ex. "forum") and name it "ajax.php"

All it does is give you the current time on a 1 sec refresh. Not something particullarly useful as there are far better ways to do this, but hopefully it helps.


PHP Code:
<?php
    require_once('global.php');

if($_POST['do']=="time")
{
    echo date('h:i:s A');
        exit;
}
else if($_POST['do']=="time24")
{
    echo date('H:i:s');
    exit;
}
else
{
echo"

<html>
<head>
<script type="text/javascript" src="clientscript/vbulletin_global.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="clientscript/vbulletin_menu.js"></script>

<script language='javascript'>

function starttimer()
{
loadurl();
timer=setTimeout("starttimer()",1000);  // Sets the time out in milliseconds, 1000 = 1 second
}

function stoptimer()
{
clearTimeout(timer);
}

function loadurl() 
{ 
    xmlhttp = new vB_AJAX_Handler(true);

    xmlhttp.onreadystatechange(triggered);

    xmlhttp.send('ajax.php', 'do=time');
    // switch to 'do=time24' to change to 24 hour clock
    
} 

function triggered() 
{ 

    if (xmlhttp.handler.readyState == 4 && xmlhttp.handler.status == 200 && xmlhttp.handler.responseText)
    {
        document.getElementById("output").innerHTML = xmlhttp.handler.responseText; 

        // If you where adding to a page, as in a chat room you could try something along these lines
        // document.getElementById("output").innerHTML += "<br>" + xmlhttp.handler.responseText; 

    }
}
</script>


</head>

<body onload='starttimer()' onunload='stoptimer()'>
    
     <div id='output'></div> 
 
</body>
</html>

";
}
?>
Reply With Quote
  #23  
Old 08-02-2006, 07:08 PM
rogersnm rogersnm is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Cyberspace, UK
Posts: 729
Благодарил(а): 0 раз(а)
Поблагодарили: 0 раз(а) в 0 сообщениях
Default
i did get it to work since whenever i posted that which was a month ago today..
Reply With Quote
  #24  
Old 08-02-2006, 08:17 PM
Andrew Green's Avatar
Andrew Green Andrew Green is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Winnipeg, MB
Posts: 996
Благодарил(а): 0 раз(а)
Поблагодарили: 0 раз(а) в 0 сообщениях
Default
Well maybe someone else will find it useful then
Reply With Quote
  #25  
Old 08-03-2006, 06:09 AM
rogersnm rogersnm is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Cyberspace, UK
Posts: 729
Благодарил(а): 0 раз(а)
Поблагодарили: 0 раз(а) в 0 сообщениях
Default
the timer thing is useful though
Reply With Quote
  #26  
Old 08-03-2006, 12:51 PM
Andrew Green's Avatar
Andrew Green Andrew Green is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Winnipeg, MB
Posts: 996
Благодарил(а): 0 раз(а)
Поблагодарили: 0 раз(а) в 0 сообщениях
Default
Quote:
Originally Posted by rogersnm
the timer thing is useful though

And as a side note on that, timers on main pages can be dangerous, especially with low timeouts. Server load goes up.
Reply With Quote
  #27  
Old 08-05-2006, 11:11 PM
Renmiri Renmiri is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Chicago, USA
Posts: 140
Благодарил(а): 0 раз(а)
Поблагодарили: 0 раз(а) в 0 сообщениях
Default
Great tutorial, thanks!
Reply With Quote
  #28  
Old 08-06-2006, 03:40 PM
rogersnm rogersnm is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Cyberspace, UK
Posts: 729
Благодарил(а): 0 раз(а)
Поблагодарили: 0 раз(а) в 0 сообщениях
Default
not if you set it for 15 seconds (well, not as much.)
Reply With Quote
  #29  
Old 08-18-2006, 12:59 PM
HaMaDa4eVeR's Avatar
HaMaDa4eVeR HaMaDa4eVeR is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Sudan
Posts: 107
Благодарил(а): 0 раз(а)
Поблагодарили: 0 раз(а) в 0 сообщениях
Default
great topic

what's the better way to pick the members list throgh AJAX,
example: if I've in my hack's field require to input members username, what I should to do to bring the similer username,
Reply With Quote
  #30  
Old 08-27-2006, 06:54 AM
HaMaDa4eVeR's Avatar
HaMaDa4eVeR HaMaDa4eVeR is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Sudan
Posts: 107
Благодарил(а): 0 раз(а)
Поблагодарили: 0 раз(а) в 0 сообщениях
Default
Up

are you there
Reply With Quote
  #31  
Old 09-29-2006, 06:25 AM
Wongod Wongod is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 39
Благодарил(а): 0 раз(а)
Поблагодарили: 0 раз(а) в 0 сообщениях
Default
Is there anything special that you need to do to get ajax working on non-forum pages? Does vbulletin has some kind of security that prevents it from giving responses to files outside the forum directory? Because I have not been able to get it to work from my root directory. It will send out but never come back with a response.
Reply With Quote
Reply
Page 3 of 4 12 3 4

« Previous Thread | Next Thread »

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 04:00 AM.

Contact Us - Archive - Top

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.12 by vBS
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
X vBulletin 3.8.12 by vBS Debug Information
  • Page Generation 0.04645 seconds
  • Memory Usage 2,328KB
  • Queries Executed 25 (?)
More Information
Template Usage:
  • (1)SHOWTHREAD
  • (1)ad_footer_end
  • (1)ad_footer_start
  • (1)ad_header_end
  • (1)ad_header_logo
  • (1)ad_navbar_below
  • (1)ad_showthread_beforeqr
  • (5)bbcode_code
  • (3)bbcode_php
  • (3)bbcode_quote
  • (1)footer
  • (1)forumjump
  • (1)forumrules
  • (1)gobutton
  • (1)header
  • (1)headinclude
  • (1)modsystem_article
  • (1)navbar
  • (4)navbar_link
  • (120)option
  • (1)pagenav
  • (1)pagenav_curpage
  • (3)pagenav_pagelink
  • (11)post_thanks_box
  • (3)post_thanks_box_bit
  • (11)post_thanks_button
  • (1)post_thanks_javascript
  • (1)post_thanks_navbar_search
  • (1)post_thanks_postbit
  • (11)post_thanks_postbit_info
  • (10)postbit
  • (11)postbit_onlinestatus
  • (11)postbit_wrapper
  • (1)spacer_close
  • (1)spacer_open
  • (1)tagbit_wrapper 
Phrase Groups Available:
  • global
  • inlinemod
  • postbit
  • posting
  • reputationlevel
  • showthread
Included Files:
  • ./showthread.php
  • ./global.php
  • ./includes/init.php
  • ./includes/class_core.php
  • ./includes/config.php
  • ./includes/functions.php
  • ./includes/class_hook.php
  • ./includes/modsystem_functions.php
  • ./includes/functions_bigthree.php
  • ./includes/class_postbit.php
  • ./includes/class_bbcode.php
  • ./includes/functions_reputation.php
  • ./includes/functions_post_thanks.php 
Hooks Called:
  • init_startup
  • init_startup_session_setup_start
  • init_startup_session_setup_complete
  • cache_permissions
  • fetch_threadinfo_query
  • fetch_threadinfo
  • fetch_foruminfo
  • style_fetch
  • cache_templates
  • global_start
  • parse_templates
  • global_setup_complete
  • showthread_start
  • showthread_getinfo
  • forumjump
  • showthread_post_start
  • showthread_query_postids
  • showthread_query
  • bbcode_fetch_tags
  • bbcode_create
  • showthread_postbit_create
  • postbit_factory
  • postbit_display_start
  • post_thanks_function_post_thanks_off_start
  • post_thanks_function_post_thanks_off_end
  • post_thanks_function_fetch_thanks_start
  • fetch_musername
  • post_thanks_function_fetch_thanks_end
  • post_thanks_function_thanked_already_start
  • post_thanks_function_thanked_already_end
  • post_thanks_function_fetch_thanks_bit_start
  • post_thanks_function_show_thanks_date_start
  • post_thanks_function_show_thanks_date_end
  • post_thanks_function_fetch_thanks_bit_end
  • post_thanks_function_fetch_post_thanks_template_start
  • post_thanks_function_fetch_post_thanks_template_end
  • postbit_imicons
  • bbcode_parse_start
  • bbcode_parse_complete_precache
  • bbcode_parse_complete
  • postbit_display_complete
  • post_thanks_function_can_thank_this_post_start
  • pagenav_page
  • pagenav_complete
  • tag_fetchbit_complete
  • forumrules
  • navbits
  • navbits_complete
  • showthread_complete