Question

I am sure there is a simple answer to this, but I am drawing a blank at the moment, any suggestions pointers would be great.

I have a php page [ lets say counter.php] which when called [loaded/viewed] it connects to a db and increments a counter.
I also have another page that has a selects box, I want to add a .js function on the onchange event that will call/poll the counter.php file thus incrementing the counter.

Is there a way to call or poll and file/page from .js, i know that this can be done via a HttpRequest but this seems like overkill as i don’t want to return anything or change anything on the page.

thanks in advance

.k

---

Thanks for your answers, but maybe I wasn’t clear, I don’t want to return anything or change anything on the page, I just want to poll the page. I am looking for a simpler way to do so without resorting to ajax/iframe.

Here is an example of what I have:

counter.php

<?php
// connect to db
// increment counter val
// DOES NOT RETURN ANYTHING
?>

index.html

<script>
increment()
{
    // I Just need to poll the page [counter.php] here,
    // thus incrementing the counter, ie no change on this page !
};
</script>

<select onchange="increment();"> ... </select>

Answer 1

I think you mean you want to implement ajax:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajax_(programming)

The quickest route I can think of to achieving something like that:

<?php   
echo '1';
?>

Download jQuery

And in the head of your document do something like:

<script>
$(document).ready(function() {
    $('#idOfaDiv').load('counter.php');//'1' will be injected into div id="idOfaDiv"
});
</script>

See Ajax/load

Also, there’s plenty of discussion about AJAX on this website. I would suggest trying a few searches on AJAX. And, there are many, many ways to achieve what you are trying to do – it is important to consider that what I have suggested is just one.