How to Receive Client-Side Data on Your Server Using PHP

A step-by-step guide to sending data from client-side to server-side using HTML, JavaScript, and PHP, including common pitfalls to avoid.
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How to Receive Client-Side Data on Your Server Using PHP

In today's web development landscape, transferring data from the client-side (like your web browser) to the server-side (where your application is running) is a critical skill. This guide will guide you through the process of receiving data sent from an HTML form to a PHP script using JavaScript.

The Problem

You have a web page where users can enter a URL that you want to store on the server. You've set up a simple HTML form and written a JavaScript function to collect the data, but when you attempt to send this data to your server, it fails. Instead of receiving the expected URL, you get the whole HTML script in your console.

Example HTML Code

Here's the HTML and JavaScript you started with:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

This structure creates an input field and a button. When the button is clicked, it calls the myFunction() to retrieve the input URL.

The Solution

1. Update Your Fetch Call

The first step to resolving this issue is to ensure that your fetch call points to the correct PHP file that will process the data. Currently, your code has:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

2. Modify the Fetch Options

After correcting the URL in the fetch function, the options remain mostly the same, but let's clarify the structure to ensure clarity:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

This approach sends the URL as a JSON object, which is often easier to handle on the server-side.

3. Update Your PHP Script to Handle JSON

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

In this code:

We use $_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] to check that it's a POST request.

We retrieve the incoming data and decode the JSON to get the URL that the user entered.

Conclusion

By following these steps, you should now be able to successfully send data from the client-side to the server-side using PHP. Remember to:

Update the fetch function with the correct PHP filename.

Ensure that you're sending the data properly formatted (e.g., as a JSON object).

Handle the incoming data correctly on the server-side.

With this setup, your web application can now efficiently receive and process data from users, allowing for enhanced interactivity and functionality.

Happy coding!