Why would javascript fail when called dynamically (Ajax)?

Question

I have been a huge fan of http://www.kryogenix.org/code/browser/sorttable/ sort table javascript code. It works on so many levels.

That said, I recently come face to face with an issue trying to get the sorts to work when called via ajax. What I have is a div layer on my main page, and I am calling a dynamic query with ajax to dynamically populate the page. I was thinking that those results could then be sortable using the above javascript file. However, that is not the case and I don't quit understand why it will not work.

I have verified the code works on the page by placing the same query on the page and populating it when the page loads normally and the sorttable.js works like a charm.

If anybody could tell me why a client side language like javascript wouldn't work when called via ajax, I would appreciate it. I'm sure it is suppose to but I more then likely goofed something up.

For reference this is my jquery / ajax

        <script type="text/javascript">
                $(document).ready(function(){
                $(".small_radio").click(function() {

                //check radio buildings for selected value
                var radBuild = $('input:radio[name=buildings]:checked').val();

                //check radio daterange for selected value
                var radDate = $('input:radio[name=daterange]:checked').val();

                //create array for multiple possibilites from checkbox users
                var chkUsers = [];
                //loop through checkboxes appending values to array
                $('#checkall :checked').each(function() {
                   chkUsers.push($(this).val());
                 });

                 //send the request
                $.ajax({
                    url: "/inventory/pick-print-results.php",
                    type: "post",
                    data: "buildings=" + radBuild + "&daterange=" + radDate + "&users[]=" + chkUsers,
                    // callback for success
                     success: function(data, textStatus) {
                         $(".loadonly").hide();
                         $(".ajax_stuff").html(data);  //no data here
                          //alert(data); //Data here
                      }, //end success else...
                      //if failsauce throw error
                      error: function() {
                          alert('Not OKay');
                         } //end error failsauce
                      }); //ends .ajax function
                   }); //end #checkall. click function
                }); // ends ready function
            </script>

This is my php query data that is called via ajax..

<?php $message.='
            <input type="hidden" value="'.$big_chunk_sql.'" id="displayed_sql" name="displayed_sql">
            <input type="hidden" value="'.$row_count.'" id="amount" name="amount">
             <input type="hidden" value="print" id="print" name="print">
            <table border="0" width="100%" class="sortable">
            <th class="admin">Location</th>
            <th class="admin">Pick For</th>
            <th class="admin">Requested Date</th>
            <th class="admin">Part Number</th>
            <th class="admin">Quantity</th>
            <th class="admin">Received Date</th>
            <th class="admin">Action</th>';
            while($data=mysql_fetch_array($big_chunk_query)) {

                //Deal with operator Name Don Ford = D Ford
                list($user_first,$user_last)=explode(' ',$data['description']);
                $user_first=strtoupper(substr($user_first,0,1));
                $user_last=ucfirst($user_last);
                $operator_name=$user_first.' ' . $user_last;

               if ($i%2 !=0)
                 $rowColor = 'tr2center';
                  else
                 $rowColor = 'tr1center';
                    $pendingdate= trim($data['received_date']);
                    $newpendingdate = date('m-d-Y',strtotime($pendingdate));
                    $message.= '<tr class="'.$rowColor.'">
                    <td>'. $data['location'].'</td>
                    <td>'.$operator_name.'</td>
                    <td>'.date("m-j-y, g:i a", strtotime($data['date_requested'])) .'</td>
                    <td>'.$data['part_number'] . '</td>
                    <td>'. $data['qty_requested'] . '</td>
                    <td>'. $newpendingdate . '</td><td> 
                    <a href="picking.php?radiopart='.urlencode($data['org_transaction_id']) .'">Mark Picked</a></td></tr>';
                    if($data['notes_to_picker']!='') { 
                    $message.= '<tr class="'.$rowColor.'" align="center"><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td><td align="right"><b>notes:</b></td><td colspan="4">' . $data['notes_to_picker'].'</td></tr>';
                    }
                    $i++;
                }
                $message.= '</table>';
                echo $message;
    ?>

Answer 1

Your case is what the plugin author would consider "advanced" if you read the documentation at the link you provided. http://www.kryogenix.org/code/browser/sorttable/#ajaxtables

in your success callback, you need sorttable.makeSortable($("#tableid")[0]);

Answer 2

You are passing data incorrectly use this

data: {"buildings":radBuild,"daterange":radDate,"users":JSON.stringify(chkUsers)}