prevent direct access to this function/page ?

[eluser]bEz[/eluser]
An alternative method to the HELPER solution would be to create a new constant in:

./application/config/constant.php

Code:

/*
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Define Ajax Request
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
*/
define(
     'IS_AJAX',
     isset($_SERVER['HTTP_X_REQUESTED_WITH']) &&
     strtolower($_SERVER['HTTP_X_REQUESTED_WITH']) == 'xmlhttprequest'
);

Line separated for clarity.

Stumbled upon this code while viewing the recent weblee screencast for JQuery (btw, a must view).

You can then change the controller code as follows:

Code:

if (! IS_AJAX)
{
  // not ajax
} else {
  // ajax
}

Subtle change, but it works!