Echoing PHP into a JS variable stops rest of script from executing?

Question

I'm attempting to echo a PHP variable into my script, however it seems to break the rest of the script:

Here's my PHP:

$geo_options = "<option value=\"0\">Select country</option>
<option value=\"AF\">Afghanistan</option>
<option value=\"AL\">Albania</option>
<option value=\"DZ\">Algeria</option>
<option value=\"AS\">American Samoa</option>
<option value=\"AD\">Andorra</option>
<option value=\"AG\">Angola</option>
...";

And my Javascript/jQuery:

$(document).ready( function() {
    var id = $(this).val();

    function countProperties(obj) {
      var prop;
      var propCount = 0;

      for (prop in obj) {
        propCount++;
      }
      return propCount;
    }
      var options = "<?php echo $geo_options; ?>";
      $('#geo-location').append(options);
      $.get('json.php',
        function(data) {
            $('input[name=url]').val(data.url);
            $('select[name=r_id]').prepend("<option selected='selected' value='" + data.rid + "'>" + data.rname + "</option>");
            $('input[name=r_min]').val(data.rmin); $('input[name=r_max]').val(data.rmax);
            if(data.blank == 1) {
            $('input[name=blank]').attr("checked", "checked"); 
            }

            var geo = (countProperties(data)-5)/2;


            }, 'json');

    });

If I comment out var options = '<?php echo $geo_options; ?>'; so this must be the part stopping the rest of the script from executing correctly (from that point downwards, as even $('#geo-location').append(); doesn't work).

I just can't figure out why this would be though?

Any help, would be greatly appreciated.

(Note: I've attempted to use both ' single quotes and " double quotes to encase the variable, thinking that the escapes in the string might be the problem, but neither have made a difference).

Update:

I've now placed my entire code, both JS and HTML into a JSFiddle as I figure there might be something I haven't spotted at all. To recap on what I've tried so far; using different quote types (single, double, none), re-escaping the variable $geo_options with add_slashes(), str_replace() and json_encode(), echoing the variable $geo_options into a random HTML element, which worked fine.

My JsFiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/SFwB6/

I must confess, I'm totally stumped.

Update 2:

I've attempted to make it much easier, and place the entire $geo_options string in var options from the beginning; http://jsfiddle.net/NUCRG/.

However, both JSLint and Dreamweaver display a syntax error, but I'm not sure why. Perhaps this is the root of the problem?

Did you try to ommit the quotes that wrap the <?php ?>, too ? I'm pretty sure it's about the quotes. Or did you ever try setting $geo_options to something simple like <span>hello</span> ? — Anonymous
– Anonymous, Commented Oct 14, 2011 at 23:35
I don't get any error's displayed, simply the rest of the script doesn't run, i.e. nothings placed inside #geo-location, and the elements that would be affected by the AJAX call, aren't. Are there some kind of system error log that I could turn on for JavaScript? Dreamweaver CS 5.5 displays no syntax errors, but I wouldn't trust it. — Avicinnian
– Avicinnian, Commented Oct 14, 2011 at 23:35
@Clive, I don't really get what you mean if I'm honest. The javascript sits between <script> tags, and I'm echoing PHP into it, as I would into any HTML element. Whether this is considered server-side or not I don't know, as I used to think that JS/HTML = client-side only aside from AJAX for requests, but I've recently heard about node.js etc etc. — Avicinnian
– Avicinnian, Commented Oct 14, 2011 at 23:38
@danontheline Tried both. The second worked, just echoing it in between HTML tags, the first (omitting the quotes) didn't. — Avicinnian
– Avicinnian, Commented Oct 14, 2011 at 23:45

endyourif · Accepted Answer · 2011-10-14 23:37:14Z

2

You'll need to update var options = "<?php echo $geo_options; ?>"; with var options = "<?php echo addslashes($geo_options); ?>"; because the \ in your php code only escapes it there, it doesn't save it with it.

Also, you might need to put it all on one line.

answered Oct 14, 2011 at 23:37

endyourif

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2 Comments

Julian H. Lam Over a year ago

addslashes(); is passe. Try json_encode();. Works better for code obfuscation too! (I kid, but seriously, consider using json_encode(); instead of addslashes();)

Avicinnian Over a year ago

Still doesn't work. I'm completely stumped, I'll post up my ENTIRE code as a JSFiddle to see if anyone can see if there's anything obvious that I'm missing.

Jess · Accepted Answer · 2011-10-15 00:23:47Z

1

What's happening is that you need to sets of escapes, when you only have one. When you echo that string into the javascript, because the string is encapsulated with double quotes ("), this means that each occurence of \" in the string is just printed as ", because the \ is being removed as an escape character in php.

But then javascript comes up, and also needs that escape character because you are, again encapsulating it in a string.

So to print it, use something like
var options = "<?php echo str_replace('"', '\"', $geo_options); ?>";

EDIT: If you want to go the json route, try this:

var options = <?php echo json_encode($geo_options); ?>;
for (var i in options)
    $('#geo-location').append('<option name="'+i+'">'+options[i]+'</option>');

Instead of

var options = "<?php echo $geo_options; ?>";
$('#geo-location').append(options);

Note, the php array geo_options will need to look something like:

$geo_options = array ("0"=>"Select country",
"AF"=>"Afghanistan",
"AL"=>"Albania",
"DZ"=>"Algeria",
"AS"=>"American Samoa",
"AD"=>"Andorra",
"AG"=>"Angola");

EDIT 2: Alright then, try this

var options = '<?php echo str_replace(array("\n","\r"), '', $geo_options); ?>';

and make sure the $geo_options string is formatted like (and there are NO single quotes allowed):

<option value="0">Select country</option>
<option value="AF">Afghanistan</option>
<option value="AL">Albania</option>
<option value="DZ">Algeria</option>
<option value="AS">American Samoa</option>
<option value="AD">Andorra</option>
<option value="AG">Angola</option>

edited Oct 15, 2011 at 0:23

answered Oct 14, 2011 at 23:35

Jess

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3 Comments

Avicinnian Over a year ago

Sounds like a pretty good explanation, but I tried to no avail. Thanks anyway :).

Avicinnian Over a year ago

Thanks for the edit, but I'm not really looking to go down that route. I only threw it in there because someone else mentioned it, but reformatting the entire string of 200 and something countries is a very long task. I've tried to make it a little more easier, by placing it into a JS variable from the beginning, which still shows a syntax error, which I find rather interesting - jsfiddle.net/NUCRG, but don't understand why?

Avicinnian Over a year ago

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! Thank you so much :). Worked perfectly.

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