Trying to access a variable inside a jquery function

Question

I am trying to access a variables inside a $.post jquery method. The code I have so far is below:

var fromDatabase;
$.post( "../read.php", function( data ) {

    fromDatabase = JSON.parse(data);

    console.log(fromDatabase); //this works fine
    return fromDatabase; 
});

console.log(fromDatabase); // but this gives me 0.

I am trying to get the from database variable so i tried to declare it outside the function to no avail. Thank you.

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 06 '15 at 21:08

0

You can't - you must continue program execution from within the callback, not immediately after the asynchronous $.post call.

answered Jan 06 '15 at 21:08

Alnitak

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And you didn't just use the dupehammer because...? – Scimonster Jan 06 '15 at 21:08
because IMHO it wasn't quite a dupe of the canonical "how to return a value from an AJAX call" answer. I've made this community wiki. – Alnitak Jan 06 '15 at 21:12

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 06 '15 at 21:10

You cannot return from an asynchronous function, that's the nature of asynchronicity. Instead, after your value is available (the callback function is called) you must work with the data within the scope of that function.

Perhaps a good starting point would be some Ajax tutorial. If you want more, simply google for JavaScript async.

Trying to access a variable inside a jquery function

2 Answers2