$_POST is empty after simple AJAX POST

Question

I've simplified my code to try isolate the issue, but I can't seem to get anything from the $_POST variable in php after javascript sends a POST request. Have a look at this:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>

<h2>AJAX Test</h2>

<button type="button" onclick="loadDoc()">Request data</button>

<p id="demo"></p>

<script>
function loadDoc() {
  var xhttp = new XMLHttpRequest();
  xhttp.onreadystatechange = function() {
    if (xhttp.readyState == 4 && xhttp.status == 200) {
      document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = xhttp.responseText;
    }
  };
  xhttp.open("POST", "submit.php?name=david", true);
  xhttp.send();
}
</script>

</body>
</html>

And this is submit.php

<?php
var_dump($_POST);
if(!empty($_POST))
{
    $name = filter_var($_POST["name"], FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);

    $output = json_encode(array('type'=>'message', 'text'=>$name.', thank you for your email!'));
    die("$output");
}
?>

When I press the button the response is simply:

array(0) { }

The empty state of the _POST variable.

I'm running this on a default setup MAMP server, with nothing changed. What's wrong?

Andrew Cheong · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-31 12:35:41Z

1

You need to set the content type:

xhttp.setRequestHeader("Content-type","application/x-www-form-urlencoded");
xhttp.open("POST", "submit.php?name=david", true);
xhttp.send();

By the way, I'm not sure your

?name=david

would work...

edited Jul 31, 2016 at 12:35

answered Jul 31, 2016 at 12:32

Andrew Cheong

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1 Comment

DavidColson Over a year ago

Thanks for your answer, but this doesn't seem to help.

developerbh · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-31 12:43:37Z

1

or simply you can use ajax method in jquery

$(document).ready(function() {
    $(document).on("submit", "#formID", function(e) {

        $.ajax({
            type: "POST",
            url: "WhereToPost.php",
            contentType: false,
            cache: false,
            processData: false,
            async: true,
            data: new FormData(this),
            success: function(data) {
                alert(data);
            },
            error: function() {
                alert("Error Handeling Here");
            }

        });
        e.preventDefault();
    });
});

answered Jul 31, 2016 at 12:43

developerbh

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