Javascript isn't running in php function

Question

Where am I going wrong with my programming logic here?

I have 2 php files. File 1 includes File 2. File 1 calls a php function from File 2. Inside the php function there is a bunch of html. The html works perfectly. At the end of the function I have this javascript....

<script type="text/javascript">
alert('hello');
</script>

This javascript isn't alerting "hello". What am I doing wrong?

Thank you in advance.

EDIT: New question because I skrewed the last one up.

In theory would the code below run properly? (yes/no)

<?php function AlertHelp(){ 
 ?><script>
 alert('help');
 </script><?
AlertHelp();
?>

• Joseph: can we see the other related code? how does the html souce llok like in the end?
• pixeline: yes, please. Use pastebin.com if necessary, and post the link back so we can help.
• tftd: Please consider adding a code which reproduces your problem. What you have described in your question is too generic and probably nobody could answer your question. Also point out if you're using any libraries - php/javascript?

Answer 1

Long shot on a wild guess here with the limited information you gave.

My assumption is that you are not "including" the file via PHP's include, require, include_once or require_once functions, but are in fact using AJAX to load in the page's content.

If this is the case, then I shall also assume you're using innerHTML to put the content on the page.

Suddenly the solution is obvious: <script> tags added by innerHTML are not parsed and run. You could probably do something like this:

// assume `result` is the variable containing the AJAX response and `elem` the element it goes in
elem.innerHTML = result; // this doesn't change
result.match(/<script[^>]*>([\s\S]*?)<\/script>/i,function(m) {eval(m[1]);});

Please note however that eval should be avoided if possible. Consider redesigning your layout to use callbacks instead.

• Rick Ryan: Hey Kolink, sorry for my rushed question. I have had that AJAX problem before but that's not quite the problem I'm here. My problem is I can't seem to get any javascript to run inside an actual PHP function. My question is, is that even possible? For example... <?php function AlertHelp(){ ?><script> alert('help') </script><? AlertHelp(); ?>
• Rick Ryan: Didnt realize comments don't let your format. I hope you can read that.
• Niet the Dark Absol: Erm... no? PHP sends its result to the browser, and then the browser parses it. By all means, you can have: <?php function AlertHelp() {echo "<script>alert('help')</script>;} AlertHelp(); ?> but that only echoes the script to the browser, to be run when the page loads.
• Rick Ryan: Interesting, So echoing out a statement is actually different than adding ?> and <? on either side of it?
• Rick Ryan: Haha wow, I am impressed Kolink. I didn't realize, because my website is pretty much a labyrinth of code now, but I actually am funneling this file through AJAX. Thank you for the answer, you're awesome.