Pass an array to a php script using AJAX

Question

I have a form that I would like to submit without refreshing the page, I am new to AJAX and although I have managed this task passing a single value I'm not sure how to do this with an array.

The form input (displayed using a while loop)

<input type="hidden" name="user" value="<? echo $user_id; ?>" >
<input type="text" name="reason[][<? echo $row['reasonID']; ?>]"
                   size="25" value="<? echo $row['reason_name']; ?>"/>

<input type="submit" class="submit" value="Save"/>

The script

<script type="text/javascript" src="/js/jquery.js"></script>
<script>
  $(function() {
    $(".submit").click(function() {
    var dataString = '????';
    $.ajax({
    type: "POST",
    url: "save_reasons.php",
    data: dataString,
    success: function(){
    alert('yay');
  }
});

return false;
});
});
</script>

save_reasons.php

   if(isset($_POST['save_reasons'])){
      $user_id = $_POST['user'];
       foreach($_POST['reason'] as $item=>$value)
     {
   if(is_array($value)){
       foreach($value as $ID=>$reason)
        {
        $sql = "UPDATE gradeReason SET reason_name = '$reason' WHERE reasonID = $ID";
        $result = mysqli_query($mysqli,$sql) or die(mysqli_error($mysqli));
        }   
         }
      else{
        if($value !=''){
              $sql = "INSERT INTO gradeReason (reason_userID, category, reason_name) VALUES ($user_id, 'positioning', '$value')";
              $result = mysqli_query($mysqli,$sql) or die(mysqli_error($mysqli));
           }
        }
         } 
     }

After doing some research I think using the datastring is the way forward but I am not sure how to using this with an array (reason) and the userID (user) and then use it in the PHP script.

L105 · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-10 21:15:10Z

1

Use jQuery serialize function to pass your values.

  $.ajax({
    type: "POST",
    url: "save_reasons.php",
    data: $('#myForm').serialize(),
    success: function(){
    alert('yay');
     }
  });

answered Aug 10, 2013 at 21:15

L105

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2 Comments

tatty27 Over a year ago

thanks, how would I use it on the php page? (I'm very new to AJAX)

tatty27 Over a year ago

it's ok, sussed it, thought I had to somehow unserialize it the data before I could use it but a bit of research shows not, thanks for a simple solution!

Roseann Solano · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-10 21:23:39Z

1

Send your data as json.

var myobj = { this: 'that' };
$.ajax({
  url: "my.php",
  data: JSON.stringify(myobj),
  processData: false,
  dataType: "json",
  success:function(a) { },
  error:function() {}
});

On your server side script

<?php
  $array = json_decode(file_get_contents("php://input"), true);
?>

edited Aug 10, 2013 at 21:23

answered Aug 10, 2013 at 21:15

Roseann Solano

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4 Comments

Musa Over a year ago

Passing true as a second argument to json_decode makes it return an array, so casting it to an array is not needed.

Roseann Solano Over a year ago

var myobj = { this: 'that' }; is actually a json objects where you store the javascript arrays for processing. In this case it will be interpreted in php like array('this' => 'that');

tatty27 Over a year ago

so I don't have to change that with my own values?

Roseann Solano Over a year ago

Use this $(this).serializeArray() to serialize your array to json so you can passit as json string. var dataString = $('#yourfield').serializeArray();

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