[support] AJAX

[Chris Miller]

From: "Fred Jones" <fredthejonester at gmail.com> 
To: support at drupal.org 
Sent: Wednesday, October 23, 2013 4:22:17 AM 
Subject: Re: [support] AJAX 

This is actually what Colorbox already does. Probably that's all you need: 

https://drupal.org/project/colorbox 



I'll investigate this, because even if it doesn't work for the current project, it will definitely work for the Photo Album part. I oversimplified the description of what I was displaying to avoid misdirecting the conversation away for the aspect of AJAX. I doubt that colorbox will work for the true content which is a PDF. A picture is static, but a PDF needs controls like download and scroll bars. 



<blockquote>
If not, Google for "drupal ajax" and you will find the third result in 
Google is an EXAMPLE of how to do it in Drupal, right on the Drupal 
API site: 

https://api.drupal.org/api/examples/ajax_example!ajax_example.module/group/ajax_example/7 
</blockquote>

This would be some of the MANY articles I've read. They do not explain the questions I have. I am sure there will come a day when I can read this and completely understand it but right now it does not explain things usefully. I've read it many times and I have not been able to produce anything useful, which is why I am asking questions. 



<blockquote>
> More specifically, how does 'class="use-ajax" ' do this magic? I have to 
> assume there is an onClick event handler hiding somewhere above me in the 
> DOM looking for the class "use-ajax". Where is this event listener 
> attached? How does it become attached? Where is the source, so I can see 
> both the event handler and the attachment? 

To understand the basics of Ajax if you prefer to do it yourself, 
start with a tutorial. Here's one I found on Google: 

http://www.w3schools.com/php/php_ajax_intro.asp 

</blockquote>

I understand the basics of AJAX, and I've used it before. What I DON'T understand is how to use AJAX withing the confines of Drupal, which is not an AJAX question, but a Drupal question. 




<blockquote>
> Finally, how do I register my callback function which will operate on the 
> returned JSON, which is a complicated question because I need an example of 
> what I need to write, where I need to put it, and how I tell Drupal that it 
> is there. 

Google for "register ajax callback" and the first result is: 

http://api.jquery.com/ajaxComplete/ 
</blockquote>

This is a jQuery call, which is fine, but I have found no Drupal documentation that says to make this call. So, this is also not illustrative. 



I appreciate that you tried to help, but I still have many questions. I did get a pointer from another source that sent me to http://www.interactivejunky.com/tutorial/ajax-commands-drupal-7 which has allowed me to create a minimal working example from which I can increase my understanding through brute force experimentation and intrusive debugging. My recommendation to anybody following the path I am on is to read this. 

Chris. 
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