Passing array in HTML form with Jquery

Question

I'm trying to use Jquery to pass an array to an HTML form as follows:

$('form#'+ID1+' input#myArray').val(theArray);

Then my form is as follows

<input type="hidden" id="myArray" name="myArray"> 

I then serialize before calling an Ajax request:

var dataString=$('form#grid1').serialize();

But on the receiving script I get:

Uninitialized string offset: 1

Any ideas?

Thanks!

• 000: Please show more code. This isn't helpful.
• iAmClownShoe: this makes no sense. please provide... i dont even know what i would want you to provide... more code
• user2056238: 'grid1' is the id of the form
• iAmClownShoe: then what is form# + ID1 + ?
• user2056238: Sorry it should be: $('form#'+grid1+' input#myArray').val(theArray)

Answer 1

Here's my best guess from what you are showing in the question.

When you call the following, the array represented by theArray is converted into a comma-separated string and placed in the hidden input element. This is the case even if theArray is a nested array.

$('form#'+ID1+' input#myArray').val(theArray);

But on the server, you are trying to treat the posted "myArray" value as an array, so you get the following error:

Uninitialized string offset: 1

The problem is that "myArray" is not an array, but is a comma-separated string.

I recommend formatting the theArray value as JSON before setting it into the hidden input element, especially if it is a nested array. You can do this:

$('form#'+ID1+' input#myArray').val(JSON.stringify(theArray));

Then parse it to an object on the server side. I'm guessing from the error message that you are using PHP, so you would do something like this:

$myArray = json_decode($_POST['myArray']);

• user2056238: John S - you are the absolute Daddy. I bow before you, your solution worked perfectly. Thank you!!!
• John S: @user2056238 - I see you have asked 13 questions, but have never accepted an answer. If an answer solves your problem, you should check it as accepted. You can also up-vote an answer if it helps.
• user2056238: sorry, i'm quite new to this... where is the link to accept an answer?
• user2056238: I found it, just went back and clicked on 'answered' for previous questions. Thanks!