Thanks, TJ - you're awesome.
Yeah - it wasn't a typo - I had a bug in my code.
On Mar 17, 10:06 am, "T.J. Crowder" <t...@crowdersoftware.com> wrote:
> @Alphonso77:
>
> > I know this has to do with variable scope...
>
> I doubt it. The code you've quoted will (or rather, would) create/
> assign to a global variable provided `myGlobalVariable` isn't declared
> as a var within some containing function, which I assume it isn't.
>
> A couple of thoughts:
>
> 1. Bug - typo?
>
> There's a bug in the quoted code:
>
> function stakeholderModel(strDataNeeded){
> new Ajax.Request('file_name.php'),
> // ^--- here
> {onSuccess: function(response) {
> globalVariable = response.responseXML
> },
> parameters: {parm1: parmValue}
> });
>
> }
>
> Note the closing parenthesis after your URL, which means that none of
> the rest of the stuff is getting passed into the `Ajax.Request`
> constructor. You should be seeing a syntax error in your debugger,
> because eventually there's a syntax error (the closing parenthesis on
> the }); line is unmatched.
>
> 2. If the bug above is just a typo in your post (*why* do people
> retype when there's the beauty of copy and paste??), then I'm guessing
> you're thinking of the ajax call as synchronous, e.g.:
>
> stakeholderModule(someData);
> if (myGlobalVariable == somevalue) {
> // ...
> }
>
> That won't work, because ajax requests are *asynchronous* by default.
> So `stakeholderModule` gets run, which *queues* the request, but the
> request doesn't complete until some time later, long after (in
> computer terms) you've already checked `myGlobalVariable`.
>
> It's possible to make ajax requests synchronous (there's an option for
> it, see the docs), but it's a very bad idea. Synchronous requests
> completely lock up the UI of many browsers for the entire duration of
> the request, which leads to a poor user experience.
>
> Instead, modify your logic so that whatever you were doing after
> calling `stakeholderModule` you do from the `onSuccess` function. So
> instead of:
>
> stakeHolderModule(someData);
> doThis();
> doThat();
> doTheOther();
>
> it's
>
> stakeHolderModule(someData, function() {
> doThis();
> doThat();
> doTheOther();
>
> });
>
> ...where `stakeholderModule` looks like this:
>
> function stakeholderModel(strDataNeeded, callback){
> new Ajax.Request('file_name.php', {
> onSuccess: function(response) {
> globalVariable = response.responseXML;
> callback();
> },
> parameters: {parm1: parmValue}
> });
>
> }
>
> @Walter:
>
> > I don't think it's enough to declare it global just by leaving off the
> > var keyword when you're already inside an anonymous function.
>
> It is, provided the symbol isn't in scope (e.g., declared as a var)
> anywhere. It's the Horror of Implicit Globals[1], and it's a very bad
> idea to rely on it.
>
> [1]http://blog.niftysnippets.org/2008/03/horror-of-implicit-globals.html
>
> HTH,
> --
> T.J. Crowder
> Independent Software Engineer
> tj / crowder software / com
> www / crowder software / com
>
> On Mar 17, 12:16 pm, Walter Lee Davis <wa...@wdstudio.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > Did you try defining the variable in the global scope first? Something
> > like this:
>
> > var myGlobalVariable
>
> > function stakeHolderModule(strDataNeeded){
> > new Ajax.Request('foo',{parameters:{bar:baz},
> > onSuccess: function(response){
> > myGlobalVariable = response.responseXML;
> > }
> > });
>
> > }
>
> > I don't think it's enough to declare it global just by leaving off the
> > var keyword when you're already inside an anonymous function.
>
> > Walter
>
> > On Mar 16, 2011, at 8:30 AM, Alphonso77 wrote:
>
> > > I'm trying to either return a value or set a global variable from
> > > within a function run on the onSuccess event. I've tried defining an
> > > inline function and setting a global variable, returning a value, and
> > > even defining a separate function that gets called. The problem is
> > > that the variable is getting erased outside of the function holding
> > > the new Ajax.request object.
>
> > > I know this has to do with variable scope, but I'm running out of
> > > ideas on how to make the value of my response.responseXML available to
> > > functions outside of the one creating the new Ajax.request. Any help
> > > you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Here is my code:
>
> > > function stakeholderModel(strDataNeeded){
> > > new Ajax.Request('file_name.php'),
> > > {onSuccess: function(response) {
> > > globalVariable = response.responseXML
> > > },
> > > parameters: {parm1: parmValue}
> > > });
> > > }
>
> > > --
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