ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

The original package, Sajax, was written by the smart people at Modern Method and you can find more information on that package at their web site

Unlike this package, at least so far, the original package also supports Perl, CFM, Lua, IO, ASP and Ruby

I wrote this new package to add support for PHP objects plus a couple other refinements but 99% of the credit should, again, go to these guys.

Note: the blocks that are commented out have no specific use here.

They leverage my simple framework (link) that in turns leverages PHP5's magic properties through a class loader.

WHAT'S NEW:

v1.0 introduces real class export. When a PHP class is instantiated in JavaScript, it is now fully handled like a regular JavaScript class with no special syntax. Of course there are limitations but they are good practice anyway: use accessors to manipulate a class variables and do not access static variables from the client-side.

HOWTO:

Simple Syntax for exporting PHP methods to Javascript:

• s2ajax_export(function) Export a function
• s2ajax_export(function1, function2, ...) Export multiple functions
• s2ajax_export(class$staticmethod) Export a static method
• s2ajax_export(array(class, method)) Also export a static method
• s2ajax_export(function1, class$staticmethod, array(class, method), function2, ...) Export a mix of functions and static methods

s2ajax_export is used to publish functions and methods. In v1.0, it is now possible to export complete classes.

Example:

s2ajax_export(getBluePencil, getGreenPencil, 'Shapes$square', array(Shapes, circle))
function getBluePencil() { return 'blue pencil'; }
function getGreenPencil() { return 'green pencil'; }
class Shapes
{
    static function square()
    {
        return 'A square shape';
    }

    static function circle($color)
    {
        return 'A '.$color.' circle!';
    }
}

NEW in v1.0: s2ajax_export_class

• s2ajax_export_class(className) Export a complete class, including all methods
• s2ajax_export_class(className, array(method1, method2, ...)) Export class and specified methods

This is a radically different approach. Now, a class can be defined in PHP, exported to JavaScript and multiple instances of this class can be instantiated and until we move to a different page, these instances are persisted, as they live both client- and server-side.

Example:

class CounterTester
{
    private $counter;

    function __construct() {
        $this->counter = 0;
    }

    public function increment_counter() {
        $this->counter++;
        return $this->counter;
    }
}

Simple Syntax for the JavaScript side:

• class$method(arguments, callback);

Example:

Shapes$circle('red', got_a_shape);
function got_a_shape(text_returned)
{
    alert(text_returned); // 'A red circle!'
}

Note:

Unlike the original Sajax, we do not need to prepend 'x_' before function names.

Example for a class:

<script>
function display_result(val) {
    alert(val); // Display new counter value
}
var counter = new CounterTester();
</script>
<button onclick="counter.increment_counter(display_result);">Increment counter</button>

Now, take a look at the example files, they are pretty straightforward.

-Chris.