So I have a quite expensive and complex PHP process which makes its execution long lasting, lets call it function "expensive_process()".
I have an interface which through a press of a button calls an ajax request to a PHP script which in turn initiates "expensive_process()". Here's the javascript code:
$('#run_expensive_process_button').click( function(){
var url = "initiate_expensive_process.php";
$.ajax({
url: url
});
});
And initiate_expensive_process.php code:
<?php
session_start();
run_expensive_process();
?>
Simple and trivial. Now the issue with this is that while expensive_process() is running, the browser is losing the ability to navigate the domain. If I refresh the browser window it hangs indefinitely while the process last. If I redirect to a different url under the same domain, same thing. This happens in all browsers. However, if I relaunch the browser (close and open a new window, not a tab), navigation works normally, even though expensive_process() is still running.
I've inspected network traffic, and the HTTP request to initiate_expensive_process.php doesn't get a response while expensive_process() is running, but I'm assuming this shouldn't be locking the browser given the asynchronous nature of the request..
One more thing, which I believe is relevant. This situation is happening on a replica server. On my local machine, where I run WAMP and the same source code, this is not happening, i.e., while expensive_process() is running, I'm still able to navigate the hosting domain without having to relaunch the browser. This seems to be an indication of a server configuration problem of some sort, but I'm not sure I can rule out other possible reasons.
Anyone know what might be causing this or what can be done to figure out the source of the problem?
Thanks
