$_GET the value of (&) with AJAX

Question

I have three codes the first one is html:

<html>
<head>
<script type = "text/javascript" src = "AJAX.js"></script>
</head>

<body>
<form method = "GET" >
    <input type = "text" id ="a" ><br>
    <input type = "text" id = "b"><br>
    <input type = "button" value ="click"  onclick = "process()"><br>
    <textarea id = "underbutton" ></textarea><br>
</form>
<body>
</html>

Now javaScript (AJAX) :

function process() {
    if(xmlHttp.readyState==0 || xmlHttp.readyState==4){

        a = document.getElementById("a").value;
                b = document.getElementById("b").value;
        xmlHttp.onreadystatechange = handleServerResponse;
        xmlHttp.open("GET","file.php?a="+a+"&b="+b,true);
        xmlHttp.send();
    }
}

function handleServerResponse (){
    if(xmlHttp.readyState==4 && xmlHttp.status==200)
        {

        response = xmlHttp.responseText;
        document.getElementById("underbutton").innerHTML =  response ;


        }

}

Now php file :

<?php  

echo $_GET['a'].'<br>';
echo $_GET['b'].'<br>';

?>

everything is working but the problem is when I type in the first texbox (a) the word hello and the second (b) the code & and click the button ; it must print out hello&.
but it prints hello!!
just hello without &.

I noted that I was sending to php file is this : file.php?a=hello&b=&.
the last & must be %26

So to print out & I must send : file.php?a=hello&b=%26.

How can I fix that ??

You can't, really. The `&` has a special meaning in a query string - it's the parameter separator. It needs to be encoded if you want to include it as a value. — andrewsi, May 14 '13 at 17:51
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11294107/how-can-i-send-the-ampersand-character-via-ajax — ioums, May 14 '13 at 17:54

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered May 14 '13 at 17:51

3

Change in the JavaScript:

- a = document.getElementById("a").value;
- b = document.getElementById("b").value;
+ a = encodeURIComponent(document.getElementById("a").value);
+ b = encodeURIComponent(document.getElementById("b").value);

answered May 14 '13 at 17:51

Explosion Pills

188,624
52
326
405

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered May 14 '13 at 17:52

You have to URL-encode your values:

xmlHttp.open("GET","file.php?a="+encodeURIComponent(a)+"&b="+encodeURIComponent(b),true);

You need this because the parameters in your URL are splitted on '&' and so its like:

a=hello & b= & *(here could be a third parameter)*

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered May 14 '13 at 17:51

1

Using jQuery.AJAX() will take care of the problem for you, I think.

answered May 14 '13 at 17:51

Code Whisperer

22,959
20
67
85

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered May 14 '13 at 17:52

1

Use encodeURIComponent()

xmlHttp.open("GET","file.php?a="+encodeURIComponent(a)+"&b="+encodeURIComponent(b),true);

answered May 14 '13 at 17:52

Tamil Selvan C

19,913
12
49
70

dnord · Answer 5 · 2013-05-16T13:33:03.607

0

To encode an ampersand (&) in URLs, you use &. What happens when you replace it with that?

edited May 16 '13 at 13:33

answered May 14 '13 at 17:52

dnord

1,702
2
18
34

The problem is not with & being in HTML. – Sven May 15 '13 at 19:57

$_GET the value of (&) with AJAX

5 Answers5