Question

I want to make a if loop according to what returns html(data), so how can I get in my ajax script a var returned by “form_treatment.php” ? I want to close the colorbox (a lightbox) containing myForm only if “form_treatment.php” returns a var PHP with a “true” value.

$('#myForm').submit(function() {
  var myForm = $(this);
  $.ajax({
    type: 'POST',
    url: 'form_treatment.php',
    data: myForm.serialize(),
    success: function (data) {
       $('#message').html(data);
       // Make a if loop according to what returns html(data)
    }
  }); 
  return false;
});

form.php :

<form method="post" action="form_treatment.php" >
    <input type="text" name="user_name" value="Your name..." /> 
    <button type="submit" >OK</button>
</form> 

form_treatment.php :

if ( empty($_POST['user_name']) ){      
        $a = false;
        $b = "Name already used.";      
} else { 
    $already_existing = verify_existence( $_POST['user_name'] ); 
    // verification in the DB, return true or false

    if( $already_existing ){
        $a = false;
        $b = "Name already used.";
    } else {    
        $a = true;
        $b = "Verification is OK";
    }
}

Answer 1

Try adding dataType : 'json' inside your $.ajax() call, and then, in your php file, respond with nothing but a json object such as:

{ "success" : true, "msg" : 'Verification is OK' }

Then, inside your $.json() success function, you can access anything from the server’s response like so:

if (data.success) {
    alert(data.msg);
}

I know you said you want to loop, but that’s just an example. Note that PHP has a great little function called json_encode() that can turn an array into a json object that your JavaScript will pick up just fine.