how to store an array in jquery cookie?

Question

I need to store an array in a jQuery cookie, any one help me please?

Answer 1

Still not exactly sure what you need but i hope this will help. This is a sample that will allow you to access the items on any page, its just a sample! It uses the cookieName to identify it across the pages.

//This is not production quality, its just demo code.
var cookieList = function(cookieName) {
//When the cookie is saved the items will be a comma seperated string
//So we will split the cookie by comma to get the original array
var cookie = $.cookie(cookieName);
//Load the items or a new array if null.
var items = cookie ? cookie.split(/,/) : new Array();

//Return a object that we can use to access the array.
//while hiding direct access to the declared items array
//this is called closures see http://www.jibbering.com/faq/faq_notes/closures.html
return {
    "add": function(val) {
        //Add to the items.
        items.push(val);
        //Save the items to a cookie.
        //EDIT: Modified from linked answer by Nick see 
        //      http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3387251/how-to-store-array-in-jquery-cookie
        $.cookie(cookieName, items.join(','));
    },
    "remove": function (val) { 
        //EDIT: Thx to Assef and luke for remove.
        indx = items.indexOf(val); 
        if(indx!=-1) items.splice(indx, 1); 
        $.cookie(cookieName, items.join(','));        },
    "clear": function() {
        items = null;
        //clear the cookie.
        $.cookie(cookieName, null);
    },
    "items": function() {
        //Get all the items.
        return items;
    }
  }
}  

So on any page you can get the items like this.

var list = new cookieList("MyItems"); // all items in the array.

Adding items to the cookieList

list.add("foo"); 
//Note this value cannot have a comma "," as this will spilt into
//two seperate values when you declare the cookieList.

Getting all the items as an array

alert(list.items());

Clearing the items

list.clear();

You can add additional things like push and pop quite easily. Again hope this helps.

EDIT See bravos answer if you having issues with IE

Answer 2

Download the jQuery cookie plugin here: http://plugins.jquery.com/project/Cookie

Setting a cookie with jQuery is as simple as this, where we are creating a cookie called "example" with a value of ["foo1", "foo2"]

$.cookie("example", ["foo1", "foo2"]);

Getting the cookie's value is also very easy with jQuery. The following would show the value of the "example" cookie in a dialog window

alert( $.cookie("example") );

Answer 3

Check out my implementation (as a jquery plugin):

(function ($) {
    $.fn.extend({
        cookieList: function (cookieName) {
            var cookie = $.cookie(cookieName);

            var items = cookie ? eval("([" + cookie + "])") : [];

            return {
                add: function (val) {
                    var index = items.indexOf(val);

                    // Note: Add only unique values.
                    if (index == -1) {
                        items.push(val);
                        $.cookie(cookieName, items.join(','), { expires: 365, path: '/' });
                    }
                },
                remove: function (val) {
                    var index = items.indexOf(val);

                    if (index != -1) {
                        items.splice(index, 1);
                        $.cookie(cookieName, items.join(','), { expires: 365, path: '/' });
                     }
                },
                indexOf: function (val) {
                    return items.indexOf(val);
                },
                clear: function () {
                    items = null;
                    $.cookie(cookieName, null, { expires: 365, path: '/' });
                },
                items: function () {
                    return items;
                },
                length: function () {
                    return items.length;
                },
                join: function (separator) {
                    return items.join(separator);
                }
            };
        }
    });
})(jQuery);

Usage:

  var cookieList = $.fn.cookieList("cookieName");
  cookieList.add(1);
  cookieList.add(2);
  cookieList.remove(1);
  var index = cookieList.indexOf(2);
  var length = cookieList.length();

Answer 4

I got error when I try to use almog.ori's script in IE 8

    //This is not production quality, its just demo code.
    var cookieList = function(cookieName) {
    //When the cookie is saved the items will be a comma seperated string
    //So we will split the cookie by comma to get the original array
    var cookie = $.cookie(cookieName);
    //Load the items or a new array if null.
    var items = cookie ? cookie.split(/,/) : new Array();

    //Return a object that we can use to access the array.
    //while hiding direct access to the declared items array
    //this is called closures see http://www.jibbering.com/faq/faq_notes/closures.html
    return {
        "add": function(val) {
            //Add to the items.
            items.push(val);
            //Save the items to a cookie.
            //EDIT: Modified from linked answer by Nick see 
            //      https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3387251/how-to-store-array-in-jquery-cookie
            $.cookie(cookieName, items.join(','));
        },
        "remove": function (val) { 
            //EDIT: Thx to Assef and luke for remove.
            indx = items.indexOf(val); 
            if(indx!=-1) items.splice(indx, 1); 
            $.cookie(cookieName, items.join(','));        },
        "clear": function() {
            items = null;
            //clear the cookie.
            $.cookie(cookieName, null);
        },
        "items": function() {
            //Get all the items.
            return items;
        }
      }

}  

after a few hours digging the error, i only realised that indexOf in

"remove": function (val) { 
                //EDIT: Thx to Assef and luke for remove.
                indx = items.indexOf(val); 
                if(indx!=-1) items.splice(indx, 1); 
                $.cookie(cookieName, items.join(','));        },

is not support in IE 8.

and so I add in another code base from here How to fix Array indexOf() in JavaScript for Internet Explorer browsers

it works,

"remove": function (val) {
    //EDIT: Thx to Assef and luke for remove.
    /** indexOf not support in IE, and I add the below code **/
    if (!Array.prototype.indexOf) {
        Array.prototype.indexOf = function(obj, start) {
            for (var i = (start || 0), j = this.length; i < j; i++) {
                if (this[i] === obj) { return i; }
            }
            return -1;
        }
    }
    var indx = items.indexOf(val);
    if(indx!=-1) items.splice(indx, 1);
    //if(indx!=-1) alert('lol');
    $.cookie(cookieName, items.join(','));
},

just in case anyone found the script is not working in IE 8, this might help.

Answer 5

I don't know if this will help someone but I also needed the function that checks if the item already there so I do not add it again.

I used the same remove function and alter it to be contain function:

"contain": function (val) {
//Check if an item is there.
if (!Array.prototype.indexOf) {
    Array.prototype.indexOf = function(obj, start) {
        for (var i = (start || 0), j = this.length; i < j; i++) {
            if (this[i] === obj) { return i; }
        }
        return -1;
    };
}
var indx = items.indexOf(val);
if(indx>-1){
    return true;
}else{
    return false;
}
},

for some reason the code above does not always work. so here is the new one that works:

"contain": function (val) {
//Check if an item is there.
if (!Array.prototype.indexOf) {
    Array.prototype.indexOf = function(obj, start) {
        for (var i = (start || 0), j = this.length; i < j; i++) {
            if (this[i] === obj) { return i; }
        }
        return -1;
    };
}
var indx = items.join(',').indexOf(val);
if(indx > -1){
    return true;
}else{
    return false;
}
},

Answer 6

This implementation provides independent access for multiple controls on the page:

(function ($) {
    $.fn.extend({
        cookieList: function (cookieName) {

            return {
                add: function (val) {
                    var items = this.items();

                    var index = items.indexOf(val);

                    // Note: Add only unique values.
                    if (index == -1) {
                        items.push(val);
                        $.cookie(cookieName, items.join(','), { expires: 365, path: '/' });
                    }
                },
                remove: function (val) {
                    var items = this.items();

                    var index = items.indexOf(val);

                    if (index != -1) {
                        items.splice(index, 1);
                        $.cookie(cookieName, items.join(','), { expires: 365, path: '/' });
                    }
                },
                indexOf: function (val) {
                    return this.items().indexOf(val);
                },
                clear: function () {
                    $.cookie(cookieName, null, { expires: 365, path: '/' });
                },
                items: function () {
                    var cookie = $.cookie(cookieName);

                    return cookie ? eval("([" + cookie + "])") : []; ;
                },
                length: function () {
                    return this.items().length;
                },
                join: function (separator) {
                    return this.items().join(separator);
                }
            };
        }
    });
})(jQuery);

Answer 7

I slightly adjusted the example to use JSON encoding and secureJSON decode, making it more robust and save.

It depends on https://code.google.com/p/jquery-json/

/*
 * Combined with:
 * http://www.terminally-incoherent.com/blog/2008/11/25/serializing-javascript-objects-into-cookies/
 * With:
 * https://code.google.com/p/jquery-json/
 *
 */
(function ($) {
    $.fn.extend({
        cookieList: function (cookieName, expireTime) {

            var cookie = $.cookie(cookieName);              
            var items = cookie ? $.secureEvalJSON(cookie) : [];

            return {
                add: function (val) {
                    var index = items.indexOf(val);
                    // Note: Add only unique values.
                    if (index == -1) {
                        items.push(val);
                        $.cookie(cookieName, $.toJSON(items), { expires: expireTime, path: '/' });
                    }
                },
                remove: function (val) {
                    var index = items.indexOf(val);

                    if (index != -1) {
                        items.splice(index, 1);
                        $.cookie(cookieName, $.toJSON(items), { expires: expireTime, path: '/' });
                    }
                },
                indexOf: function (val) {
                    return items.indexOf(val);
                },
                clear: function () {
                    items = null;
                    $.cookie(cookieName, null, { expires: expireTime, path: '/' });
                },
                items: function () {
                    return items;
                },
                length: function () {
                    return items.length;
                },
                join: function (separator) {
                    return items.join(separator);
                }
            };
        }
    });
})(jQuery);

Answer 8

Nice piece of code for what I am doing at the moment, but found a bug. I was saving a list of integers (IDs) to the cookie. However when the cookie is first read it typecasts to strings. I previously save (int) 1, and later when the cookie is retrieved on a page reload is designates it as "1". Thus when I try to remove (int) 1 from the list it won't index a match.

The fix I applied is to change the "val" expressions to val.toString() prior to adding or indexing the items. Thus items is an array of strings.

"add": function(val) {
    //Add to the items.
    items.push(val.toString());
    //Save the items to a cookie.
    $.cookie(cookieName, items.join(','));
},

"remove": function (val) { 
    //EDIT: Thx to Assef and luke for remove.
    if (!Array.prototype.indexOf) {
        Array.prototype.indexOf = function(obj, start) {
            for (var i = (start || 0), j = this.length; i < j; i++) {
                if (this[i] === obj) { return i; }
            }
            return -1;
        };
    }

    var indx = items.indexOf(val.toString()); 
    if(indx!=-1) items.splice(indx, 1); 
    //Save the items to a cookie.
    $.cookie(cookieName, items.join(','));
},

Answer 9

This is how you store and retrieve an array in cookie using json and jquery.

//Array    
var employees = [
                {"firstName" : "Matt", "lastName" : "Hendi"},
                {"firstName" : "Tim", "lastName" : "Rowel"}
];

var jsonEmployees = JSON.stringify(employees);//converting array into json string   
$.cookie("employees", jsonEmployees);//storing it in a cookie

var empString = $.cookie("employees");//retrieving data from cookie
var empArr = $.parseJSON(empString);//converting "empString" to an array. 

Answer 10

Here is JSON implementation for working with cookie, much better way for storing arrays. tested from my end.

$.fn.extend({
  cookieList: function (cookieName) {
      var cookie = $.cookie(cookieName);

      var storedAry = ( cookie == null ) ? [] : jQuery.parseJSON( cookie );


      return {
          add: function (val) {

              var is_Arr = $.isArray( storedAry );
              //console.log(storedAry);


              if( $.inArray(val, storedAry) === -1 ){
                storedAry.push(val);
                //console.log('inside');
              }

              $.cookie( cookieName, JSON.stringify(storedAry), { expires : 1 ,  path : '/'});
              /*var index = storedAry.indexOf(val);
              if (index == -1) {
                  storedAry.push(val);
                  $.cookie(cookieName, storedAry.join(','), { expires: 1, path: '/' });
              }*/
          },
          remove: function (val) {

              storedAry = $.grep(storedAry, function(value) {
                return value != val;
              });
              //console.log('Removed '+storedAry);

              $.cookie( cookieName, JSON.stringify(storedAry), { expires : 1 ,  path : '/'});
              /*var index = storedAry.indexOf(val);
              if ( index != -1 ){
                  storedAry.splice( index, 1 );
                  $.cookie(cookieName, storedAry.join(','), { expires: 1, path: '/' });
               }*/
          }
          clear: function () {
              storedAry = null;
              $.cookie(cookieName, null, { expires: 1, path: '/' });
          }
      };
  }

});

Answer 11

I added the "remove" action to whoever want to use it - val is the index at which to start changing the array:

    "remove": function (val) {
        items.splice(val, 1);
        $.cookie(cookieName, items.join(','));
    }

Answer 12

just a little alternative to the "remove" function:

    "removeItem": function (val) { 
        indx = items.indexOf(val);
        if(indx!=-1) items.splice(indx, 1);
        $.cookie(cookieName, items.join(',')); 
    }

where val is the value of an item in the array e.g:

   >>> list.add("foo1");
   >>> list.add("foo2");
   >>> list.add("foo3");
   >>> list.items();

   ["foo1", "foo2", "foo3"];

   >>> list.removeItem("foo2");
   >>> list.items();

   ["foo1", "foo3"];

Answer 13

You could serialize the arrays before storing as cookie and then deserialize when reading. ie with json?