Syntax Error when calling a JavaScript function

Question

When I click on a table cell, i want my program to run a function whilst passing the parameter $venues[$y][1] through. However, whenever i click on a cell, i get the error:

SyntaxError: expected expression, got '}'

Here is the function which gets called:

<script type="text/javascript">
function displayPicture(x){
    alert(x);
}
</script>

Here is the line that calls the function (its html and php):

echo '<td class="venueNames" onclick="displayPicture("'.$venues[$y][1].'")">'.$venues[$y][1].'</td>';

For the sake of this example, lets assume $venues[$y][1] is Wembley.

Is the issue because I am passing a php variable as a parameter for a javascript function?

Answer 1

You have problably a problem with masking your quotation marks. Try the following:

echo '<td class="venueNames" onclick="displayPicture(\''.$venues[$y][1].'\')">'.$venues[$y][1].'</td>';

or

echo "<td class=\"venueNames\" onclick=\"displayPicture('{$venues[$y][1]}')\">{$venues[$y][1]}</td>";

In your original code the onclick -attribute will be seen by the browser as onclick="displayPicture(" - ie the second double quotation mark is seen as the end of the onclick attribute and not as an internal quotation mark enclosing a string in your function call.