Decoding javascript array in PHP

Question

I've been trying to decode a Javascript array in PHP for several days now with no luck.

I basically have a PHP while loop that loops through all products in my SQL database and it spits out a checkbox on each row to allow users to select 1 or more product to action via a PHP script.

My HTML & form is:

<div class="error_box"><?php echo $_SESSION['newdata']; ?></div>
<div class="error_box"><?php echo $_SESSION['errordata']; ?></div>
<form>
<input type='submit' value='Bulk update products -->' id='bulk-change-products' onClick='updateProduct()'>
<input type='checkbox' name='products[]' id='serialized' value='$product_no' onclick='serialize()'>
</form>

My Javascript code:

window.serialize = function serialize() {
  var values = [].filter.call(document.getElementsByName('products[]'), function(c) {
    return c.checked;
  }).map(function(c) {
    return c.value;
  });

  console.log(values);
  $('#result').html(values);

}

function updateProduct(values){
    $.ajax({
         url: "https://tech-seo.co.uk/ecommerce/products/bulk_process_products.php",
        method: "POST",
        data: {array:values},
        success: function(res){

        }

    }) 
}

Console log shows the data correctly e.g.

(2) ["1", "2"]
0: "1"
1: "2"
length: 2

My php code after posting with AJAX:

session_start();

 $getArray = json_decode($_POST['data']);

// checking if data exists
if ($getArray != null ){
    $_SESSION['newdata'] = "Success!";
}else{
    // either of the values doesn't exist
   $_SESSION['errordata'] = ">>>>>>  There was an error  <<<<<<<";
}

I always get '>>>>>> There was an error <<<<<<<' when I select the products and click the submit button.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks. Stan.

You have data: {array:values} your array is in the array key not data key, eg you would use $_POST['array'] — Patrick Evans
– Patrick Evans, Commented Nov 21, 2019 at 22:47
onClick='updateProduct()' You're not passing the values argument to the function. — Barmar
– Barmar, Commented Nov 21, 2019 at 22:55
You're calling json_decode() in PHP, but you never call JSON.stringify() in JavaScript. Where are you expecting the JSON to come from? — Barmar
– Barmar, Commented Nov 21, 2019 at 22:56
Ive now used stringify var newvalues = JSON.stringify(values); console.log(newvalues); $('#result').html(newvalues); which now results in ["1","2","3"]. Im not sure I understand regarding the values argument? — Stan Howe
– Stan Howe, Commented Nov 21, 2019 at 23:03

Barmar · Accepted Answer · 2019-11-21 23:02:51Z

1

You're not passing the values array when you call updateProduct() from the onclick attribute. It needs to get the values itself.

function updateProduct() {
  var values = $("input[name='products[]']:checked").map((i, el) => el.value).get();
  $.ajax({
    url: "https://tech-seo.co.uk/ecommerce/products/bulk_process_products.php",
    method: "POST",
    data: {
      products: values
    },
    success: function(res) {
    }
  })
}

If you pass the array in the data: option, you don't need to use json_decode() in PHP. jQuery will send the parameters using the URL-encoded format that PHP decodes into an array in the $_POST element.

$getArray = $_POST['products'];

answered Nov 21, 2019 at 23:02

Barmar

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4 Comments

Stan Howe Over a year ago

Thanks for this Barmar, I knew I was missing something, I can now echo back the values of the array via the $getArray = $_POST['products']; thanks for that. I have a weird issue where the data isnt returned on the first button click, it always seems to be the 2nd click, any ideas?

04FS Over a year ago

@StanHowe you did nothing to prevent the event default action inside your updateProduct function, so your form will submit, because you are clicking on a submit button …

Stan Howe Over a year ago

Ive added an if statement to ensure there is at least one product selected but after i alert on the page, it loads a new URL with a ? at the end, any ideas ?

Barmar Over a year ago

Change the input to type="button" so it doesn't submit the form.

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