Question

I would like to know if it’s possible without javascript to update an echo ?

For example

<?php
for ($i = 1; $i < 100; $i++){
    echo $i;
}
?>

But it will only update the number without adding another line, and another until 100. Is this possible or only with javascript you can achieve this.

I need to output a counter to know how much files is being processed at the moment like

45 of 100 pages

Answer 1

PHP is a server-side language. The script is requested, executed and then sent to the client.

JavaScript executes client-side only. Which means that it can send a request to a PHP script, but will always return the result of the script.

The only option is AJAX requests. Basically, you write a PHP script that moves one file at a time. JavaScript handles the loop from 1 to 100 and send 100 synchronous requests to the PHP script with different parameters. Then you can track the progress and update DOM elements on your HTML page.

jQuery has a nice .ajax() function that can get you started. Below is a quick example. It won’t work right off the bat but you can build on it to make it work.

PHP

<?php
    $file = $_POST['file'];
    $destination = $_POST['destination'];
    // Move the stuff!
?>

JavaScript

var files = ['test.txt', 'test2.txt' /* ... */], /* Your list of files... */
    destination = '/path/to/send/to/the/php/script/';

for(var i = 0; i < files.length; i ++){
    $.ajax({
        async: false,
        url: 'script_to_move_files.php',
        data: { file: files[i], destination: destination },
        success: function(){
            /* File moved! Update a progress bar or something... */
        },
        error: function(){
            /* File wasn't moved successfully... */
        }
    });
}