Don't include empty strings or nulls with jQuery's $.param()

Question

I am using jQuery's $.param() to serialize an object in the following format:

var queryParams = {
    firstNm: null,
    lastNm: 'M',
    id: null,
    email: null
}

When I use $.param(queryParams), I get the following:

firstNm=&lastNm=M&id=&email=

What I would like to have instead is simply:

lastNm=M

I would like any parameters that are null or empty to not show up in the output. Is this possible using jQuery's $.param(), or will it require custom serialization?

EDIT:

This is NOT a duplicate of this question. That question pertains more to the MediaWiki API and has to do with not including the = when a parameter is null or empty, and only including the key of the key value pair. My question is whether it is possible to leave off the key value pair entirely from the output if the value is null or empty.

mohamed-ibrahim · Accepted Answer · 2015-09-16 13:17:44Z

8

You can write your own function to exclude null and empty values:

var queryParams = {
  firstNm: null,
  lastNm: 'M',
  id: null,
  email: null
}

function isEmpty(value){
  return value == null || value == "";
}

for(key in queryParams)
  if(isEmpty(queryParams[key])) 
     delete queryParams[key]; 

// queryParams now =  { lastNm: "M"}

and if you get this values from form you can do the following:

$("#form :input[value!='']").serialize()

answered Sep 16, 2015 at 13:17

mohamed-ibrahim

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2 Comments

Andrew Mairose Over a year ago

I think this is the best solution. Seems like the $.param() method should accept a third parameter, something like includeEmpty.

izogfif Over a year ago

@AndrewMairose caref

Mirko Vogt · Accepted Answer · 2018-09-06 12:42:54Z

1

Another alternative to achieve removal of empty parameters in the serialized string.

var serializeURLParameters = function(oParameters) {
    return "?" + Object.keys(oParameters).map(function(key) {
        if(oParameters[key]) {
            return key + "=" + encodeURIComponent(oParameters[key]);
        }
    }).filter(function(elem) {
        return !! elem;
    }).join("&");
}

answered Sep 6, 2018 at 12:42

Mirko Vogt

111 bronze badge

Comments

Leo Javier · Accepted Answer · 2015-09-16 13:52:53Z

0

Here you can exclude the null values, keeping your properties in your object: https://jsfiddle.net/leojavier/bxc57o3v/2/

var queryParams = {
        firstNm: null,
        lastNm: 'M',
        id: null,
        email: null
    }
    var query = {}
    for(item in queryParams) {
        if(queryParams[item] != null && queryParams[item].length > 0) {
            query[item] = queryParams[item]
            console.log(query)
            console.log($.param(query));
        }
    }

edited Sep 16, 2015 at 13:52

answered Sep 16, 2015 at 13:29

Leo Javier

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1 Comment

Andrew Mairose Over a year ago

Good idea, but in my case, it's fine to delete the properties, because I am immediately redirecting to a new page that includes the serialized object as parameters in the URL

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