Question

I’m currently creating my own CMS and I have a hard question (I think it is) and I can’t found anything on Google…

I’m trying to make a edit_settings.php with AJAX and PHP, to include my Zend_Config_Ini into it ’cause I’m using this for my config.ini parsing and writing.

There’s is the base of the PHP code (my array isn’t there, normal):

<?php
$config = new Zend_Config_Ini('config.ini',null,array('skipExtends' => true, 'allowModifications' => true));

// Write the config file
$writer = new Zend_Config_Writer_Ini(array('config' => $config,'filename' => 'config.ini'));
$writer->write();
?>

Exemple: I click on “Edit” and the red-bordered zone become a input field and I can edit it without changing page and I just need to click “Save” after to save the config in the config.ini file.

I know that this needs AJAX, PHP and the Zend_Config_Ini but I don’t know how to link them together…

The question: HOW I CAN DO THIS?

Answer 1

I wouldn’t go with the whole page refresh thing. It adds additional logic to the controller. Logic which could be easily be in specialized ajax controllers. And jQuery’s AJAX is cool. And AJAX is perfect for edit-in-place stuff.

I’ll make the following assumptions:

• you use jQuery

• you know that a valid JSON string becomes a JS object in jQuery

• you have an AjaxController with a “settingsEditAction”

• you know that this is my take on your problem, not imposing any style of
  thinking or even of coding; this is how I would do it, so it’s bad
  or good.

• you know I’ve written this in np++, off the top of my head, so you won’t freak out on missing colons or the like

In AjaxController:

public function settingsEditAction()
{
    $json = array('success' => false);

    $inputName = $this->_getParam("inputName");
    $inputVal  = $this->_getParam("inputVal");

    // all OK?
    if (!$this->_request->isXmlHtmlRequest() || 
        !$this->_request->isPost() ||
        is_null($inputName) ||
        is_null($inputVal)) 
    {
        $this->_helper->json($json);
    }


    $iniWriter = new Zend_Config_Writer_Ini();

    // modify ini with according to input name and value; sanitize before writing

    // I haven't use an ini writer, but if the write() method returns a boolean,
    // store it in the success key
    $json['success'] = $iniWriter->write()

    $this->_helper->json($json);
}

The jQuery part:

$(document).ready(

    // say we have <p class="edit">edit</p><p>Value</p>

    // on click "edit", do DOM manipulation to turn into <p class="save">save</p><input name="inputname" value="some value" />

    $("p.save").on('click', function() {

        // somehow get the above input; I'm using it as a sibling; use "parents" or "children" etc.
        $input = $(this).siblings("input"); // $(this) is the current clicked element (<p>)

        // create data container to send to ZF
        var ajaxObj = {
            'inputName': $input.attr("name"),
            'inputVal': $input.val()
        };

        // manage the response as a JSON
        var callback = function(json) {
            if (json.success) {
                // change from input text to <p> to simulate edit-in-place
            } else {
                // alert? show error markup?
            }
        };

        // Remember "settingsEditAction" in the "AjaxController"? That's "settings-edit" in URL-speak as per ZF conventions
        // The last param is the data type you expect from server
        // Use POST for posting, GET for getting, what?
        $.post('/ajax/settings-edit', ajaxObj, callback, 'json');

    });

);

LE:
Actually, I’ve missed the part in which you click edit, and the p turns into an input.
Click edit: 1st p has “save” as text, and the sibling p becomes an input.
Click save paragraph: send post; if success, set the original markup (2 <p>‘s).