This question has just about killed my project. (that's why its crippling
) I've debugged it and tried many different bug fixes and observed it and tried to figure out how the heck to fix it so many times that I think my mind is numb to it.
The sad part is, it's not even an error, just a bug that I can't fix.
Okay, now that I've vented a little, I'll actually tell you my problem. I'm in the process of designing a forum, although I'm stuck on the login/logout/register process. An AJAX script takes the registration info from a form, creates an XML document with all the old user info plus the new user, stores that code as a string in a var which gets passed to PHP, and PHP overwrites the old XML file.
So it goes:
- User clicks the register button
- Javascript constructs the code and stores it as a string in the var
- AJAX passes it to PHP
- PHP rewrites the XML
-
The page reloads
Very beta so far, no form validation or anything. The problem: The script randomly does not work AT ALL. No users get added or anything. It just doesn't work. Sometimes the xml file is updated. Sometimes its not.
JavaScript/AJAX:
Code:
/////////////////////// AJAX - the bridge between server and client
var AJAXfailmsg = "Browser Error!\nYour browser is too old and does not support the necessary technologies
for this forum. Try upgrading your browser to one with AJAX support.\n"; // Message for AJAX failure
var forum=loadXMLDoc('forum.xml'); // XML document variable
var numUsers=parseFloat(forum.getElementsByTagName("users")[0].getAttribute("num")); //parseFloat the
number of users for use in calculations and loop conditions
function loadXMLDoc(dname) // Load XML doc // Dname is the path to the database
{
var xmlDoc; // initialize a var to be used later
if (window.ActiveXObject) // code for IE
{
xmlDoc=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLDOM");
}
else if (document.implementation && document.implementation.createDocument) // code for Mozilla, Firefox,
Opera, etc.
{
xmlDoc=document.implementation.createDocument("","",null);
}
else // no browser AJAX support
{
alert(AJAXfailmsg); //Alert with fail message
}
xmlDoc.async=false;
xmlDoc.load(dname); // load the file
return(xmlDoc); // returns the XML doc when this function is called
}
function ajaxFunction(messageDat){ // the Ajax Request Function
var ajaxRequest; // initialize a var for later
try{
// Opera 8.0+, Firefox, Safari
ajaxRequest = new XMLHttpRequest();
} catch (e){
// Internet Explorer Browsers
try{
ajaxRequest = new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP");
} catch (e) {
try{
ajaxRequest = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
} catch (e){
// No AJAX message:
alert(AJAXfailmsg);
return false;
}
}
}
// Create a function that will receive data sent from the server
ajaxRequest.onreadystatechange = function(){
if(ajaxRequest.readyState == 4){ //If the server is done...
alert("Success!"); // Alert
}
}
// Send it!
ajaxRequest.open("GET", "forumWrite.php?newXML="+messageDat+"", true);
ajaxRequest.send(null);
}
///////////////////////////// Javascript newXML construction - create the XML and use AJAX to pass it to PHP
// The following 3 functions return a string of XML
function users(typeCall) //Returns the users
{
var users2 = parseFloat(forum.getElementsByTagName("users")[0].getAttribute("num"))+1;
if (typeCall=="old") // If you want the complete old database of users...
{
var usersStr='<users num="'+forum.getElementsByTagName("users")[0].getAttribute("num")+'">';
for (i=0; i<numUsers; i++) // Write user data for each user
{
usersStr+='<user><username>'+forum.getElementsByTagName("username")[i].childNodes[0].nodeValue+'</user
name>';
usersStr+='<password>'+forum.getElementsByTagName("password")[i].childNodes[0].nodeValue+'</password
>';
usersStr+='</user>';
}
usersStr+='</users>';
}
else if (typeCall=="add") // if you want to write the old database and add a new user...
{
var usersStr='<users num="'+users2+'">';
for (i=0; i<parseFloat(forum.getElementsByTagName("users")[0].getAttribute("num")); i++) // Write user data
for each user
{
usersStr+='<user><username>'+forum.getElementsByTagName("username")[i].childNodes[0].nodeValue+'</user
name>';
usersStr+='<password>'+forum.getElementsByTagName("password")[i].childNodes[0].nodeValue+'</password
></user>';
}
// no </users> tag because you are adding a user: all <user> tags have to be inside the <users> tag...
}
return usersStr; // return the users xml data
}
function config()//Returns the config settings
{
var configsStr = '<config>empty</config>';
return configsStr // return the config xml data
}
function database()//Returns the actual categories, threads, boards, posts, etc.
{
var databaseStr = '<database>empty</database>';
return databaseStr // return the database XML data
}
function registration()
{
var newPHPXML; // This variable will contain new XML data to be written over the old
newPHPXML = '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><forum>'; // Beggining data
newPHPXML+=users("add"); // populate with former users,
newPHPXML+='<user><username>'+document.register.username.value+'</username>'; // add new username
newPHPXML+='<password>'+document.register.password.value+'</password>'; // add new password
newPHPXML+='</user></users>' // a few end tags
newPHPXML+=config(); // configs
newPHPXML+=database(); // and the categories, boards, threads, posts, etc.
newPHPXML+='</forum>' // Ending data
var escapedPHPXML = escape(newPHPXML); // newPHPXML escaped for transfer through the _GET superglobal var.
ajaxFunction(escapedPHPXML); // Use AJAX to pass the escaped newPHPXML
document.location=document.location; // goes to another page/reloads
}
HTML:
Code:
<html>
<head>
<script src="func.js"></script> <!-- the above JS file^^^ -->
</head>
<body>
<form name="register">
Username: <input type="text" value="admin" name="username"><br>
Password: <input type="password" value="admin" name="password"><br>
Password Verification: <input type="password" value="admin" name="passwordVerification"><br>
<input type="button" onClick="registration()" value="Register">
</form>
</body>
</html>
PHP: (there's nothing wrong with it, I'm pretty sure. But for reference purposes
forumWrite.php:
PHP Code:
<?php
/* The very small PHP frontend function for exBB.*/
if (get_magic_quotes_gpc()) { // If magic quotes are enabled...
$newXML = stripslashes($_GET['newXML']); // Strip the slashes and get the var
// Slashes before quotes in the XML file will cause errors
} else { // If there not..
$newXML = $_GET['newXML']; //Get the variable
}
$myFile = "forum.xml"; // path to the forum database
$fh = fopen($myFile, 'w') or die("Internal forum error!"); // open the database
// Completely overwrites the old data instead of only appending to the end
$stringData = $newXML; // the data to be written
fwrite($fh, $stringData); // actually write it
fclose($fh); // close the file
?>
I am so desperate on this question. It has brought my forum to a screeching halt. I have figured out this:
- It isn't that the AJAX reads the old XML before it is updated
Anyone please help!
Before you post, read our: 
Crippling- yes, crippling - AJAX question
