Get return value from controller function via ajax

[Ian W. Scott]

I'm trying to use ajax calls to update the data for a chart dynamically. I don't want to make the chart a component that refreshes, I just want to get the controller return value back to the javascript in the view, so that I can update the chart via javascript. But web2py's ajax function seems to only (a) update a part of the page html, or (b) send page data to the controller for use in the back-end. There doesn't seem to be any way to get the controller's return value as a data object for the javascript to use.

I've tried just using jquery's get() method like this:

    $.get(my_controller_url, function(data){
        console.log('got ajax data', data);
    });

But if the controller's return value is a tuple there seems to be no data sent back, or at least I don't know how to access it from the 'data' variable in this example. If I make the controller a dictionary I get html back. But I don't want html. I just want the data.

So how can I do this?

[Niphlod]

from gluon.serializers import json

def uh():

    return json(blablabla)

[Richard Vézina]

Simone,

Since simplejson have be exit, and standard lib json it reputed multifold time slower what are you suggesting as a remedy?

Richard

--
Resources:
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- http://web2py.com/book (Documentation)
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[Niphlod]

ehm...... what again ?

[Richard Vézina]

again what, off topic, ever!!

:)

Richard

[Niphlod]

I really don't know what you meant (ontopic or offtopic)

[Richard Vézina]

I mean, before in gluon/contrib there were simplejson, but I notice it had been removed in 2.10.x if I remember because it was not py3 compliant... I discover it hadly when my production app shown some strange behavior in some search field or autocomplete field where I was using it...

I did't replace it with ujson which is really fast, but I would like to know what you propose instead of plain json from standard library?

Richard

[Richard Vézina]

To my knowlege simplejson contrib was there because of standard json lib was too slow...

Richard

[Niphlod]

I suggest a good pair of goggles ..... https://github.com/web2py/web2py/tree/R-2.13.4/gluon/contrib/simplejson

[Ian W. Scott]

Thanks. So to clarify, if I serialize the return value as json in the controller, then I can use it in javascript. It looks like I still have to parse the json on the javascript end (like $.parseJSON(mydata)) but it works like a charm.

Ian

[Richard Vézina]

https://groups.google.com/d/msg/web2py-developers/2U-4hnwjc60/9LvGVn_P2VYJ

You are right I am having it... I guess I shouldn't believe everything what I read...

:)

Thanks to clarify that... I should check my code since the issue I was having get solved by another concurrent change which may was the only thing causing the issue... And that explain why I didn't have any import issue

Richard

[Richard Vézina]

Yes always better to parse it...

--

[Niphlod]

the deal is basically that if you return a dict, web2py is compelled to pass it to the corresponding view, which in turns in most of cases returns html.

There's nothing wrong in returning a dict and then having a generic "json" view that serializes that dict, and as a matter of fact, generic.json does just that.

But if you return a string, you skip the "render the view" part.

On the parsing side: if you are looking for json, you should also return the correct content-type if you want libraries (e.g. jQuery) to parse for themselves. Either you force it with response.headers['Content-Type'] = 'application/json' or - my personal preference - you just ask for /a/c/f.json instead of /a/c/f . the correct content type will be set by web2py.

[Anthony]

Additionally, if you still want to use the ajax() function, the third argument can be ":eval", in which case, you can return some Javascript code to be executed when the response is returned. Alternatively, the third argument can be an actual Javascript function, in which case, the returned value will be passed to that function.

Anthony

[Ian W. Scott]

Ah, thanks Anthony. I didn't realize that the third argument in the ajax() function was that flexible. That helps.

Ian

--

Resources:
- http://web2py.com
- http://web2py.com/book (Documentation)
- http://github.com/web2py/web2py (Source code)
- https://code.google.com/p/web2py/issues/list (Report Issues)
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--

Ian W. Scott, PhD (McMaster RS)

Associate Professor of New Testament

Tyndale Seminary

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

http://www.ian-w-scott.com

Paul's Way of Knowing: Story, Experience and the Spirit (WUNT II/205; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2006/Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008).

The Online Critical Pseudepigrapha (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2006-). Online: http://www.purl.org/net/ocp.