Calling symfony helper from a php script needed for Ajax?

Question

N00b question:

I'm using Symfony with Doctrine. I have a form where I've added a little Jquery & Ajax check of whether a username that has been inputted into the form already exists. The jQuery calls a short PHP script on my web root that does the MySQL database check and returns true/false, which is then used to determine what error message to show.

However, if possible, I'd like to move the database call to a symfony helper function that then returns the true/false, rather having all the connection info etc on my web root. But I can't seem to be able to call the helper function correctly - all other components of the functionality work fine.

This is what I've got in my little php script:

$availability = GenericHelper::checkUsername();  // a public static function
echo $availability; // returns true/false to Jquery

Anyone? Thanks.

What version of Symfony are you using? is your PHP script in an action of a module of your symfony project? — Guillaume Flandre
– Guillaume Flandre, Commented Jan 26, 2010 at 10:43
I'm using symfony 1.4, afaik there was ajax helpers in previous versions but no longer. — Tom
– Tom, Commented Jan 26, 2010 at 10:45
Let me advice you to use separate controller for Ajax requests. — Darmen
– Darmen, Commented Jan 26, 2010 at 11:40
@Darmen... what do you mean by that? Could you please clarify? — Tom
– Tom, Commented Jan 26, 2010 at 11:46
@Darmen... do you mean creating a separate module and forwarding this request to that module and then back? — Tom
– Tom, Commented Jan 26, 2010 at 11:52

Guillaume Flandre · Accepted Answer · 2010-01-26 11:00:56Z

2

Did you correctly load the helper?

sfContext::getInstance()->getConfiguration()->loadHelpers('Generic');

Then you should be able to call checkUsername() directly.

Or you can try to put GenericHelper.class.php to the lib/ directory, this way it will be auto-loaded.

answered Jan 26, 2010 at 11:00

Guillaume Flandre

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Tom Over a year ago

Thanks Guillaume, tried that earlier, and tried now again with your exact code..... no effect. It doesn't return any error. It's just as if it does nothing.

Geoffrey Bachelet · Accepted Answer · 2010-01-26 12:28:28Z

1

Helpers are not meant for that sort of job (they are only meant for "view" related work, that is, generate html, etc).

Instead your should create an action (either in the same controller as your form or in a dedicated ajax controller, I personaly find the first option more easily maintenable) that will do the username check using a method of the model. See http://gist.github.com/286797 for a code example on how to do that (please note this code has not been tested and therefore could not work ootb).

You would then direct your Ajax query to that action.

answered Jan 26, 2010 at 12:28

Geoffrey Bachelet

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2 Comments

Tom Over a year ago

Thanks Geoffrey, makes perfect sense. However, what I'm struggling to get my head around as a beginner is how that method call is most effectively achieved. I can't put it in the JQuery so I still need a php script fragment somewhere in my web root or deeper. Is that right?

Geoffrey Bachelet Over a year ago

No, what you need is to generate the url for your action and pass it to Jquery's ajax handler. I have updated the Gist at gist.github.com/286797 with simple routing and templating to reflect this :-)

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