Question

I have an input field which I would like to dynamically validate while user is typing… I am using Codeigniter and I believe that I have some URI problem… Let me show you the code…

HTML/PHP:
<input type="text" id="username"> <span id="validateUsername"></span>

jQuery:

$(document).ready(function() {
    var validateUsername = $('#validateUsername');
        $('#username').keyup(function () {
        var t = this; 

        if (this.value != this.lastValue) {
            if (this.timer) clearTimeout(this.timer);
            validateUsername.removeClass('error').html('<img src="<?php echo site_url("public/images"); ?>/ajax-loader.gif" height="16" width="16" /> checking availability...');
            this.timer = setTimeout(function () {
                $.ajax({
                    url: '<?php echo base_url(); ?>register/check_user/' + t.value,
                    dataType: 'json',
                    type: 'POST',
                    success: function (j) {
                        validateUsername.html(j.msg);
                    }
                });
            }, 200);

            this.lastValue = this.value;
        }
    });
});

My codeigniter controller has a very simple function:

function check_user($username) {
    // var_dumping stuff goes here
}

In there I’m just trying to var_dump different stuff (like $_SERVER, $_REQUEST, $username), but I think that my script doesn’t even reach that controller…

I was trying to change url: '<?php echo base_url(); ?>register/check_user/' + t.value, line in my jQuery script but it seems that no combination works. For example:
url: '<?php echo site_url('register/check_user/'); ?>' + t.value,
url: 'index.php/register/check_user/' + t.value,
url: 'register/check_user/' + t.value,

…whatever I try my validateUsername span shows only “checking availability” message.

I was trying my script in Chrome, Safari and IE8. PHP version is 5.3.0 and jQuery is 1.4.2…

Any ideas what could be wrong here?

Thanks for any help in advance!

Answer 1

I see there could be multiple issues with your code:

are the routes properly set?

In your CodeIgniter routes, do the following:

$route['register/check_user/(:any)'] =" register/check_user/$1";

In your CodeIgniter controller, access the variable using this:

function check_user() {
    $username = $this->uri->segment(3);
    var_dump($username);
    // var_dumping stuff goes here
}

Also, I would suggest using jQuery Text Change event, It has worked great for me, instead of using setTimeouts and keyup.

Example:

$('#username').bind('textchange', function () {
   $.post('<?php echo base_url(); ?>register/check_user/' + this.value, function(data) {
      $('#validateUsername').html(data);
    });
});