AJAX Poll

2 min read

AJAX Poll #

The following example will demonstrate a poll where the result is shown without reloading.

Do you like PHP and AJAX so far? #

Yes: 
No: 

Example Explained – The HTML Page #

When a user chooses an option above, a function called “getVote()” is executed. The function is triggered by the “onclick” event:

 
<html> <head> <script> function getVote(int) { var xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest(); xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=function() { if (this.readyState==4 && this.status==200) { document.getElementById("poll").innerHTML=this.responseText; } } xmlhttp.open("GET","poll_vote.php?vote="+int,true); xmlhttp.send(); } </script> </head> <body> <div id="poll"> <h3>Do you like PHP and AJAX so far?</h3> <form> Yes: <input type="radio" name="vote" value="0" onclick="getVote(this.value)"><br> No: <input type="radio" name="vote" value="1" onclick="getVote(this.value)"> </form> </div> </body> </html>

The getVote() function does the following:

  • Create an XMLHttpRequest object
  • Create the function to be executed when the server response is ready
  • Send the request off to a file on the server
  • Notice that a parameter (vote) is added to the URL (with the value of the yes or no option)

 

The PHP File #

The page on the server called by the JavaScript above is a PHP file called “poll_vote.php”:

 
<?php $vote = $_REQUEST['vote']; //get content of textfile $filename = "poll_result.txt"; $content = file($filename); //put content in array $array = explode("||", $content[0]); $yes = $array[0]; $no = $array[1]; if ($vote == 0) { $yes = $yes + 1; } if ($vote == 1) { $no = $no + 1; } //insert votes to txt file $insertvote = $yes."||".$no; $fp = fopen($filename,"w"); fputs($fp,$insertvote); fclose($fp); ?> <h2>Result:</h2> <table> <tr> <td>Yes:</td> <td><img src="poll.gif" width='<?php echo(100*round($yes/($no+$yes),2)); ?>' height='20'> <?php echo(100*round($yes/($no+$yes),2)); ?>% </td> </tr> <tr> <td>No:</td> <td><img src="poll.gif" width='<?php echo(100*round($no/($no+$yes),2)); ?>' height='20'> <?php echo(100*round($no/($no+$yes),2)); ?>% </td> </tr> </table>

The value is sent from the JavaScript, and the following happens:

  1. Get the content of the “poll_result.txt” file
  2. Put the content of the file in variables and add one to the selected variable
  3. Write the result to the “poll_result.txt” file
  4. Output a graphical representation of the poll result

The Text File #

The text file (poll_result.txt) is where we store the data from the poll.

It is stored like this:

0||0

The first number represents the “Yes” votes, the second number represents the “No” votes.

Note: Remember to allow your web server to edit the text file. Do NOT give everyone access, just the web server (PHP).

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