Onclick does nothing

Useful thanks, understand more now about server(php)/client(js).  I tried below, which adds a row when the page loads, but not with onclick.  Dunno how to use js to send a request to php, which should be simple even for novice.

<script>
function add_row() {
<?php $this->table_model->add_row( 'file.doc' ); ?>
}
</script>

<a href="http://downloadfiles.com/file.doc" onclick="add_row()">

To learn how to use JS to send a request to php google "jquery get and post". If you don't want to use JS you could create a form that just has a submit button with the action attribute specifying a codeigniter controller. Then in the controller you call your model function to add the row to your table.

Simpler is always better