Question

I am implementing a function populatig a select box using data from another select box.

//views/users/ajax.ctp
$.ajax({
        url: url,
        type: "GET",
        dataType: "html",
        data:"arr=" + result,
        success: function(data){
            document.getElementById(child).innerHTML = data;
        }
    });

As you can see from the code above the data passed by the call should be accessible in the getSectors() function under the data variable:

//controllers/users_controller.php
function getSectors() {
    $this->set('data', $this->data);
    $this->render('/users/ajax_data');
}

In the corresponding view I try to see the content of the data passed:

//views/users/ajax_data.ctp
<?php var_dump($data); ?>

The $data is null.

Debugging that in Firebug shows that the call is invoked properly (status 200 ok) and that the XMLHttpRequest contains parameters and values.

Do you have any suggestions what could be possibly wrong?

Answer 1

In order for Cake to populate the $this->data variable, the data being send needs to follow the format data[Model][field], or at least be part of the data[..] array. If it’s plainly named arr, Cake won’t put it in the $this->data variable.