Passing variable outside ajax function

Question

Please help - I have the following code which returns the variable 'results' in an alert. I want to use this variable outside of the function, and cannot get a callback, or outside declaration to work successfully. I'm sure I'm being a muppet, so I apologise for this basic question..... ``` ```

Accepted Answer

The jQuery 1.5+ way of resolving this is by using deferred objects:

```
var res;

var ajax = $.ajax({
    type: 'POST',
    dataType: 'jsonp',
    url: ...
}).done(function(results) {
    // you may safely use results here
    res = results;
    ...
});

// you cannot safely use 'res' here, only in code
// invoked via a 'done' callback on the `$.ajax` promise

console.log(res);    // undefined
```

It would be incorrect to attempt to copy `results` into some other variable in the outer scope unless you have ensured that no other code tries to access that variable until the AJAX call has completed.

Passing variable outside ajax function

Solution

Problem

Related problems