Can't get multiple values from json using ajax

Question

Hello I'm kinda new to programming and I'm trying to use ajax and would like to get the value from this php, but can't get it to work

$userID = $_SESSION['id'];

$query = "SELECT * from ipcr where userID = '".$userID."'";
$result = mysqli_query($conn, $query);

while ($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
    $current_id = $row['id'];
    $current_details = $row['details'];
    $current_dateCreated = $row['dateCreated'];
    $current_ipcrCode = $row['ipcrCode'];
    $current_employeeNumber = $row['employeeNumber'];

    $array = array(
        'id'=>$current_id,
        'details' => $current_details,
        'dateCreated' => $current_dateCreated,
        'ipcrCode' => $current_ipcrCode,
        'employeeNumber' => $current_employeeNumber
    );

    echo json_encode($array);
}

but i keep getting an error:

SyntaxError: Unexpected token < in JSON at position 173

and when i try to validate my json it gives this error

This is the actual output that the php echoed.

{"id":"21836","details":"Details here","dateCreated":"2018-08-01 14:25:28","ipcrCode":"22703","employeeNumber":"140010663"}
{"id":"21837","details":"details here","dateCreated":"2018-08-01 14:25:57","ipcrCode":"22703","employeeNumber":"140010663"}

Is there something wrong with the way I use json_encode? it seems that the format I echoed is wrong.

also this is how my script looks like

function get_ipcr() {
    var userID = <?php echo $_SESSION['id']; ?>;

    $.ajax({
        type: "POST",
        url: "../includes/php/load_ipcr.php",

        dataType: "json",
        success: function(results) {
            alert("success");
        },
        error: function (jqXHR, textStatus, errorThrown) {
            alert(errorThrown);
        }

    });

}

Your `echo json_encode($array);` is *inside* your whole loop so it is echoing multiple times. Move it after the loop — Sean, Aug 28 '18 at 23:05

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 28 '18 at 23:11

The issue is you are echoing the JSON object in loop. This results in something like {valid JSON}{valid JSON} which isn't a valid JSON.

You can fix this by:

$employees = array();
while ($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
    $current_id = $row['id'];
    $current_details = $row['details'];
    $current_dateCreated = $row['dateCreated'];
    $current_ipcrCode = $row['ipcrCode'];
    $current_employeeNumber = $row['employeeNumber'];
// Record into employees array.
    $employees[] = array(
        'id'=>$current_id,
        'details' => $current_details,
        'dateCreated' => $current_dateCreated,
        'ipcrCode' => $current_ipcrCode,
        'employeeNumber' => $current_employeeNumber
    );
}
echo json_encode($employees);

random_user_name · Answer 2 · 2018-08-29T13:25:05.203

Welcome to stackoverflow!

There's several things you are going to hear about from different comments / answers, I recommend that you listen to them - it may seem overwhelming, or like "too much info" - but trust me, we are all here to help!

The answer to your problem
Bake the entire JSON string into a single array (an array of arrays), rather than echoing out the JSON string multiple times within the loop.

Additional tip
Also, as a tip, you are making more typing for yourself by assigning all the variable ($current_id = $row['id'], etc). You can just use the $row['id'] directly ... below you can see that I've shown one way to streamline your code:

// shorthand version of $array = array()
$array = [];
while ($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
    // don't bother assigning $row values to a series of variables
    // removed all the lines like the next one....
    // $current_id = $row['id'];
    // push this record onto the array of arrays....
    $array[] = [
        // assign the array values directly from $row
        'id'             =>$row['id'],
        'details'        => $row['details'],
        'dateCreated'    => $row['dateCreated'],
        'ipcrCode'       => $row['ipcrCode'],
        'employeeNumber' => $row['employeeNumber']
    ];
}

echo json_encode($array);

Lastly, and MOST IMPORTANT
Please, please - do NOT write query statements like that. It is wide open to SQL Injection attacks, which are a serious issue.

Please see this post about how to prevent SQL injection attacks.

Thank you for the answer and all the tips! – Sciryl Aug 28 '18 at 23:27 — Sciryl, Aug 28 '18 at 23:27

Can't get multiple values from json using ajax

2 Answers2