php - jQuery check if username is taken -

ok, driving me nuts. have tried ton of other answers here, no avail , hate having post has been beaten death, cant work.

i checking db see if username exists , no matter type in (whether existing or not), return says name available. if run check , dump screen, correct returns printed.

<?php      $query = new application_model_queries();     $false = $query->usernames('vikingblooded');     print_r( $false); //prints 1     $true = $query->usernames('someonespecial');     print_r($true); prints nothing  ?> 

javascript:

$(document).ready(function () {     $("#username").keyup(function () {         $("#message").html("<img src='<?php echo $this->baseurl('images/ajax-loader.gif'); ?>' class='status' /> checking...");         var username = $("#username").val();         $.ajax({             method: "post",              url: "<?php echo $this->baseurl('users/check') ?>",             data: {username: username},              success: function (data) {                 if (data === 1) {                     $("#message").html("<img src='<?php echo $this->baseurl('images/cross.png') ?>' /> username taken");                 } else {                     $("#message").html("<img src='<?php echo $this->baseurl('images/tick.png') ?>' /> username available");                 }             }         });      });  }); 

php

public function usernames($uname) {     $select = $this->_dbtableusers->select()             ->from($this->_dbtableusers, array('user_name'))             ->where('user_name = ?', $uname);     $rows = $this->_dbtableusers->fetchrow($select);     if ($rows) {         return true;     } } 

html

<table>         <tr>               <td>username</td>               <td>:</td>               <td><input type="text" name="username" id="username"/><td>                 <td id="message"><td>         </tr>          <tr>               <td>password</td>               <td>:</td>               <td><input type="text" name="password" id="password" /><td>         </tr> </table> 

you're not formatting data js php correctly nor defining method proper way:

$.ajax({     method: "post", // changed type: "post"     url:"<?php echo $this->baseurl('users/check')?>",     data: { username: username }, // changed "username="+username     success:function(data){         if(data == 1){             $("#message").html("<img src='<?php echo $this->baseurl('images/cross.png')?>' /> username taken");                                     } else {             $("#message").html("<img src='<?php echo $this->baseurl('images/tick.png')?>' /> username available");         }     } }); 

you should define type of data you're expecting , try use json communicate data php js:

php:

<?php echo json_encode(array('somevalue' => false)); ?> 

js:

$.ajax({     // other stuff     datatype: 'json'     // other stuff });