Ajax wait on success before next iteration in .each loop - ajax

Question

I have an ajax call inside a .each loop wrapped in a setInterval function.
This handles updating of many divs on a dashboard with just a few lines of code on the html page.
I am worried about server lag vs client side speed. What will happen if the server has not responded with the data before the loop moves on to the next iteration?
So, my question is, can the loop be paused until the success is executed?
Ajax call:
setInterval(function() {
$(".ajax_update").each(function(){
$.ajax({
type: "POST",
dataType: "json",
url: "ajax/automated_update/confirmed_appointments.php",
data: "clinic_id=<? echo $clinic_id ?>&tomorrow=<? echo $tomorrow ?>&"+$(this).data('stored'), // serializes the form's elements.
success: function(data)
{
$(data[0]).html(data[1]);
}
});
});
}, 5000); //5 seconds*
</script>
I have looked into .ajaxComplete() but I dont see how to apply this as a solution.
I have also looked at turning the loop into something that calls itself like:
function doLoop() {
if (i >= options.length) {
return;
}
$.ajax({
success: function(data) {
i++;
doLoop();
}
});
}
But would that not interfere with .each? I dont understand how that would play nice with .each and looping based on my div class.
I just cant figure it out! Any help would be appreciated.
I was able to get .when working with the ajax call, but I dont understand how to make .when do what I need (stop the loop until the ajax call is done).
$(".ajax_update").each(function(){
$.ajax({
type: "POST",
dataType: "json",
url: "ajax/automated_update/confirmed_appointments.php",
data: "clinic_id=<? echo $clinic_id ?>&tomorrow=<? echo $tomorrow ?>&"+$(this).data('stored'), // serializes the form's elements.
success: function(data)
{
$(data[0]).html(data[1]);
}
});
$.when( $.ajax() ).done(function() {
alert("Finished it");
});
});

Answer 1

After thinking about your question a bit, perhaps a good solution would be to put an event in place that would trigger a new set of updates with a minimum time between your dashboard updates. This would ensure that all your updates process, that we do wait a minimum time between updates and then trigger the update cycle once again. Thus if you DO encounter any delayed ajax responses you do not try another until the previous one has all completed.
I have not fully tested this code but is should do what I describe:
//create a dashboard object to handle the update deferred
var dashboard = {
update: function (myquery) {
var dfr = $.Deferred();
$.ajax({
type: "POST",
dataType: "json",
url: "ajax/automated_update/confirmed_appointments.php",
data: "clinic_id=<? echo $clinic_id ?>&tomorrow=<? echo $tomorrow ?>&" + myquery,
success: dfr.resolve
});
return dfr.promise();
}
};
//create a simple deferred wait timer
$.wait = function (time) {
return $.Deferred(function (dfd) {
setTimeout(dfd.resolve, time);
});
};
// use map instead of your .each to better manage the deferreds
var mydeferred = $(".ajax_update").map(function (i, elem) {
return dashboard.update($(this).data('stored')).then(function (data, textStatus, jqXHR) {
$(data[0]).html(data[1]);
});
});
//where I hang my dashboardupdate event on and then trigger it
var mydiv = $('#mydiv');
var minimumDashboardUpdate = 5000;
$('#mydiv').on('dashboardupdate', function () {
$.when.apply($, mydeferred.get())
.then(function () {
$.when($.wait(minimumDashboardUpdate)).then(function () {
mydiv.trigger('dashboardupdate');
});
});
});
mydiv.trigger('dashboardupdate');