Convert form data to JavaScript object with jQuery
Convert form data to JavaScript object with jQuery
Question
How do I convert all elements of my form to a JavaScript object?
I'd like to have some way of automatically building a JavaScript object from my form, without having to loop over each element. I do not want a string, as returned by $('#formid').serialize();
, nor do I want the map returned by $('#formid').serializeArray();
Accepted Answer
serializeArray already does exactly that. You just need to massage the data into your required format:
function objectifyForm(formArray) {
//serialize data function
var returnArray = {};
for (var i = 0; i < formArray.length; i++){
returnArray[formArray[i]['name']] = formArray[i]['value'];
}
return returnArray;
}
Watch out for hidden fields which have the same name as real inputs as they will get overwritten.
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Convert forms to JSON like a boss
The current source is on GitHub and Bower.
$ bower install jquery-serialize-object
The following code is now deprecated.
The following code can take work with all sorts of input names; and handle them just as you'd expect.
For example:
<!-- All of these will work! -->
<input name="honey[badger]" value="a">
<input name="wombat[]" value="b">
<input name="hello[panda][]" value="c">
<input name="animals[0][name]" value="d">
<input name="animals[0][breed]" value="e">
<input name="crazy[1][][wonky]" value="f">
<input name="dream[as][vividly][as][you][can]" value="g">
// Output
{
"honey":{
"badger":"a"
},
"wombat":["b"],
"hello":{
"panda":["c"]
},
"animals":[
{
"name":"d",
"breed":"e"
}
],
"crazy":[
null,
[
{"wonky":"f"}
]
],
"dream":{
"as":{
"vividly":{
"as":{
"you":{
"can":"g"
}
}
}
}
}
}
Usage
$('#my-form').serializeObject();
The Sorcery (JavaScript)
(function($){
$.fn.serializeObject = function(){
var self = this,
json = {},
push_counters = {},
patterns = {
"validate": /^[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9_]*(?:\[(?:\d*|[a-zA-Z0-9_]+)\])*$/,
"key": /[a-zA-Z0-9_]+|(?=\[\])/g,
"push": /^$/,
"fixed": /^\d+$/,
"named": /^[a-zA-Z0-9_]+$/
};
this.build = function(base, key, value){
base[key] = value;
return base;
};
this.push_counter = function(key){
if(push_counters[key] === undefined){
push_counters[key] = 0;
}
return push_counters[key]++;
};
$.each($(this).serializeArray(), function(){
// Skip invalid keys
if(!patterns.validate.test(this.name)){
return;
}
var k,
keys = this.name.match(patterns.key),
merge = this.value,
reverse_key = this.name;
while((k = keys.pop()) !== undefined){
// Adjust reverse_key
reverse_key = reverse_key.replace(new RegExp("\\[" + k + "\\]$"), '');
// Push
if(k.match(patterns.push)){
merge = self.build([], self.push_counter(reverse_key), merge);
}
// Fixed
else if(k.match(patterns.fixed)){
merge = self.build([], k, merge);
}
// Named
else if(k.match(patterns.named)){
merge = self.build({}, k, merge);
}
}
json = $.extend(true, json, merge);
});
return json;
};
})(jQuery);
What's wrong with:
var data = {};
$(".form-selector").serializeArray().map(function(x){data[x.name] = x.value;});
A fixed version of Tobias Cohen's solution. This one correctly handles falsy values like 0
and ''
.
jQuery.fn.serializeObject = function() {
var arrayData, objectData;
arrayData = this.serializeArray();
objectData = {};
$.each(arrayData, function() {
var value;
if (this.value != null) {
value = this.value;
} else {
value = '';
}
if (objectData[this.name] != null) {
if (!objectData[this.name].push) {
objectData[this.name] = [objectData[this.name]];
}
objectData[this.name].push(value);
} else {
objectData[this.name] = value;
}
});
return objectData;
};
And a CoffeeScript version for your coding convenience:
jQuery.fn.serializeObject = ->
arrayData = @serializeArray()
objectData = {}
$.each arrayData, ->
if @value?
value = @value
else
value = ''
if objectData[@name]?
unless objectData[@name].push
objectData[@name] = [objectData[@name]]
objectData[@name].push value
else
objectData[@name] = value
return objectData
I like using Array.prototype.reduce
because it's a one-liner, and it doesn't rely on Underscore.js or the like:
$('#formid').serializeArray()
.reduce(function(a, x) { a[x.name] = x.value; return a; }, {});
This is similar to the answer using Array.prototype.map
, but you don't need to clutter up your scope with an additional object variable. One-stop shopping.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Forms with inputs that have duplicate name
attributes are valid HTML, and is actually a common approach. Using any of the answers in this thread will be inappropriate in that case (since object keys must be unique).
All of these answers seemed so over the top to me. There's something to be said for simplicity. As long as all your form inputs have the name attribute set this should work just jim dandy.
$('form.myform').submit(function () { var $this = $(this) , viewArr = $this.serializeArray() , view = {}; for (var i in viewArr) { view[viewArr[i].name] = viewArr[i].value; } //Do stuff with view object here (e.g. JSON.stringify?) });