Refresh Cpmfetch with AJAX

[ericr23]

Seven months ago, I asked about how to refresh the samples on page without reloading the whole page. This weekend I learned the rudiments of AJAX, asynchronous javascript and XML, and therein found a solution. Here it is.

On the page where the gallery appears, remove the gallery code and replace it with an empty div:

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<div id=galsamp></div>

Anywhere on the page, insert:

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<script type="text/javascript" src=ajax-galsamp.js" />

The file ajax-galsamp.js contains the function getGalsamp():

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function getGalsamp() {
var xmlHttpGalsamp=null;
try {
    xmlHttpGalsamp = new XMLHttpRequest();
} catch (e) {
    try {
       xmlHttpGalsamp=new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP");
    } catch (e) {
       xmlHttpGalsamp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
    }
}
xmlHttpGalsamp.onreadystatechange = function() {
    if (xmlHttpGalsamp.readyState == 4)
       try {
          if (xmlHttpGalsamp.status == 200) {
             document.getElementById("ajax-galsamp").innerHTML
                = xmlHttpGalsamp.responseText;
          }
       } catch (e) {
          document.getElementById("ajax-galsamp").innerHTML
             = "Error on Ajax return call : " + e.description;
       }
}
xmlHttpGalsamp.open("get","galsamp.php");
xmlHttpGalsamp.send(null);
}

This function runs galsamp.php, which contains the gallery code, and inserts the result into the galsamp div:

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<?php include_once("./pix/cpmfetch/cpmfetch.php");
$objCpm = "";
$objCpm = new cpm("./pix/cpmfetch/cpmfetch_config.php");
$objCpm->cpm_viewRandomMedia(5,1);
?>

Finally, for the ability to refresh the gallery sample, add the Refresh command to your page:

<a href="javascript:getGalsamp()">Refresh</a>

See it in action at http://www.wind-watch.org/

Note: the content of ajax-galsamp.js does not have to be in a separate file. It can be included on the page between <script type="text/javascript"> and </script>

[ericr23]

Ha -- some fine example. I didn't completely update the test page in making it live. It's fixed now:

http://www.wind-watch.org/

[ericr23]

Also: one error -- sorry for the carelessness.

The div id on the page needs to be ajax-galsamp, which is what the javascript function shown is looking for, not galsamp:

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<div id=ajax-galsamp></div>

[vuud]

Nicely done!

I did have a chance to really play with it - but thank you very much for posting this.

I am restarting development on the next version, so any feedback on what cpmfetch could provide to make things like this work better would be welcome.  I am considering working in a JSON return type.

Thanks again!

[ericr23]

Thanks, Vuud!

I have one more amendment, folks. After this was working in the sidebar (an included php file), I moved it into the main body of the index page, and it no longer loaded the gallery sample until "refresh" was clicked. So I added the following to ajax-galsamp.js after the function definition to make sure it runs:

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ajaxGetGalsamp();

[Shane]

Any way to make this auto-refresh every X seconds rather than include a "Refresh" link?

[Nibbler]

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setInterval(getGalsamp, X * 1000);

[Shane]

Thanks Nibbler.  I'll give it a try this evening.  Will post a link if I can get this to work correctly.