Ajax PHP placing variables in string for API call

Question

I have read and attempted to implement all solutions I found on the web but until now I can't get this to work, so time to ask for help:

I send the following Ajax call to my PHP file:

        $.ajax({
            url: "libs/php/geolocate.php",
            type: 'POST',
            dataType: 'json',
            data: {
                lat: $lat,
                lon: $lon
            },

this invokes the following call in the php file:

$result = $geocoder->geocode( '51.952659, 7.632473' );

Everything works okay, but what I'd like to do next is replace the preformatted coords, with those that I send across in the ajax call. This is where I am failing, I have tried varying methods to inject lat and lon including logic from a prior project: $_REQUEST['lat'], nothing seems to work.

Can someone please advise what format I need to use?

many thanks

EDIT var_dump() output:

<pre class='xdebug-var-dump' dir='ltr'>
<small>C:\wamp64\www\geonamesExample\libs\php\geolocate.php:2:</small>
<b>array</b> <i>(size=0)</i>
  <i><font color='#888a85'>empty</font></i>
</pre>{"results":[{"source":"opencage","formatted":"Friedrich-Ebert-Straße 7, 48153 Münster, Germany","geometry":{"lat":51.9526599,"lng":7.632473},"countryCode":"DE","timezone":"Europe\/Berlin","roadinfo":{"sideOfRoad":"right","speed":"km\/h"},"currency":{"name":"Euro","symbol":"€"}}]}```

Please run `var_dump($_REQUEST)` in the receiving PHP script and add the output to the question. — Mitya, Sep 19 '20 at 14:01
thanks for replying, jack solved the issue below, but appreciate the guidance on bug finding. — trig79, Sep 19 '20 at 15:08

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 19 '20 at 14:54

0

You can use $_POST['lat'] and $_POST['lon']

$result = $geocoder->geocode( $_POST['lat'] . ', ' . $_POST['lon']);

answered Sep 19 '20 at 14:54

jack

1,391
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21

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited Sep 20 '20 at 08:58

0

Usually php passes automatically variables with the header

application/x-www-form-urlencoded

To retrieve the values with your current setup you need to capture the data using

php://input

I.e

$data = file_get_contents('php://input') ;

var_dump($data); // associative array with your variables

More info here

PHP "php://input" vs $_POST

edited Sep 20 '20 at 08:58

Abu Nooh

846
4
12
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answered Sep 19 '20 at 15:15

SteveKE

11
2

`you need to capture the data using php://input` No, he doesn't. – jack Sep 19 '20 at 15:16

Ajax PHP placing variables in string for API call

2 Answers2