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I'm currently trying to use Ajax to use my php array in javascript. Even though I have json encoded the array, set the php content-type, and ajax datatype, it looks like javascript is still trying to process my php script instead of the json it outputs. This is because I always get a 'Unexpected Token <' error (the beginning of my php script).

Here is my ajax:

$.ajax({
  type: 'GET',
  cache: false,
  url: 'api.php',
  dataType: "json",
  error: function(jqXHR, textStatus, errorThrown) {alert(errorThrown);},
  success: function(data) {
    alert(data);}
});

And here's my php (filename is api.php):

<?php
header('Content-Type: application/json');
$aliases = array('angry','birds');

echo json_encode($aliases);
?>

I know my php outputs the correct json format, because when I run it in my browser, the output is ["angry","birds"]

Can't seem to figure out what's going on.

share|improve this question
    
Does the network tab in a developer console reveal the source code in the response? –  Dan Lee Oct 19 '13 at 19:12
    
@DanLee Yes, it gets a text/php file from this source: api.php?_=1382210002876 and when I double click on it, it brings me to the php script in the browser, not the json output. –  Tom Wall Oct 19 '13 at 19:18
    
And the request is provided by the server and not the file system? –  Dan Lee Oct 19 '13 at 19:21
    
@DanLee The initiator is jquery but this is exactly what the request URL looks like: file://localhost/Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/htdocs/api.php?_=1382210187843 –  Tom Wall Oct 19 '13 at 19:26
2  
This is your problem then. You need to call this php file via server, like http://localhost/api.php –  Dan Lee Oct 20 '13 at 1:30

1 Answer 1

up vote 1 down vote accepted

It seems like you're trying to send a request via file system. You're getting the original source code back, because the server/PHP doesn't parse your file.

If you're opening your page via file system (e.g file://some/path/test.html) then the request gets send via file system too. Either you open your page from the server or you need to specify the full qualified location then. I.e. in your case something like http://localhost/api.php.

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