ResponseText Empty :( TWO DAYS wasted

[iamvela]

I am doing what-should-have-been-a-very-simple hello-world AJAX application that talks to my server.

I am testing with Firebug. My JS code successfully makes the connection to my server script. Server script inserts a row into DB. No Problem.

Firebug gives back status 200. No Problem
Firebug shows the right content-length e.g. 3
No Problem.
Even the size is 3. No Problem.
If I echo hello, then it is 5. No Problem.

A version of my server PHP is as simple as
<?php echo 'end' ; ?>

The problem is that the data (e.g. the string 'end') never appears in my responseText. Not even in Firebug. I've put the server on sleep for before replying, I've put a delay in the JS code before checking for 200 status, and a few other things...

I AM STUMPED.

Please help... ANYONE? This is driving me crazy...

BTW for some reason, the same code stops working if I use POST (I do have a line as
oXmlHttp.setRequestHeader('Content-Type', 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded') ;
for the POST)

[Fotiman]

Could you post the relevant AJAX portion of code? My initial thought is are you checking for readyState == 4?

[iamvela]

That is correct, is that not what I am supposed to do? :(

[Fotiman]

Yes, you should be checking for readyState == 4. I just wanted to make sure you were doing that. Could you post a bit of your AJAX code?

[iamvela]

Here's my JS code:

function createXMLHttp()
{
 if (typeof XMLHttpRequest != "undefined") { return new XMLHttpRequest(); }
 else if (window.ActiveXObject)
 {
 var aVersions = ["MSXML2.XMLHttp.5.0", "MSXML2.XMLHttp.4.0", "MSXML2.XMLHttp.3.0", "MSXML2.XMLHttp", "Microsoft.XMLHttp"];
 for (var i = 0; i < aVersions.length; i ++ )
 {
 try
 {
 var oXmlHttp = new ActiveXObject(aVersions[i]);
 return oXmlHttp;
 }
 catch (oError) {} // Do nothing
 }
 }
 throw new Error("XMLHttp object could be created.");
}

function do_post(url, data, suc)
{
 var oXmlHttp = createXMLHttp();
 var method_ = "";
 if(data == "" || data == null) method_ = "get";
 else method_ = "post";
 //alert(method_ + url) ;
 oXmlHttp.open(method_, url , true);
 oXmlHttp.onreadystatechange = function ()
 {
 if (oXmlHttp.readyState == 4)
 {
alert (oXmlHttp.status) ;
 if (oXmlHttp.status == 200)
 {
 var response ;
 response = oXmlHttp.responseText;
 var transport = new Object;
 transport.responseText = response;
 suc(transport);
 }
 }
 }
 ;
 // if (data != "" || data != null) oXmlHttp.overrideMimeType('text/html');
 //if (data != "" || data != null) oXmlHttp.setRequestHeader('Content-Type', 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded');
 if (data == "" || data == null) // Lets use GET method
 {
 oXmlHttp.send(null);
 }
 else // Lets POST the data
 {
 oXmlHttp.setRequestHeader('Content-Type', 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded') ;
 oXmlHttp.send(data);
 }
}

function myRspHandler(transport)
{
alert ('handler') ;
 var responseText = transport.responseText;
 eval (responseText);
}

Here's my PHP code:

<?php
include_once 'myChkBrowser.php' ;
include_once("database_info.php");

mysql_query("INSERT into test (`debug_msg`) VALUES ('" . $browserVer .": " . $_REQUEST['text'] . ": I made the AJAX call from WP plugin')" ) ;

//echo '<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<begin' ;
//echo 'end>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>' ;

?>

[Fotiman]

var aVersions = ["MSXML2.XMLHttp.5.0", "MSXML2.XMLHttp.4.0", "MSXML2.XMLHttp.3.0", "MSXML2.XMLHttp", "Microsoft.XMLHttp"];

Ack! That is definitely not good. MSXML 5.0 and 4.0 are not recommended by Microsoft. Check out Cross Browser XMLHttpRequest Explained [webmasterworld.com]. I would start by correcting this first. You'll want to use either MSXML 6.0 or MSXML 3.0.

Next, it looks like your PHP code is not outputting anything.

[iamvela]

PHP code is outputting, just a matter of where in the debug cycle I was, and thanks for cacthing the MSXML...