Send JSON object as string not array

Question

I have a string that looks like this

{ "name":"John", "age":30, "city":"New York"}

I want to post it to a PHP file exactly in the format as seen above, not as an array. The reason is that I will later use this string somewhere else, and I have no need to implode it or reformat it.

Here is what I have now.

var sentdata = '{ "name":"John", "age":30, "city":"New York"}';

$.ajax({
    url: 'save.php',
    type: 'post',
    data: sentdata,
    success:function(response){
    console.log('Updated'); 
    }

});

PHP is currently outputting this:

Array ( [{"name":"John","age":30,_"city":"New_York"}] => )

But I wanted a basic string that looks exactly like in sentdata.

I prefer a Jquery/JSON solution, but if I have to do something in PHP then so be it.

Thanks!

You need to `JSON.stringify()` the sentdata, and set the contentType: 'json' on the request — Taplar, Apr 24 '19 at 15:29
You should receive the data just the way you sent it, post your save.php to see why the data was transformed. — Musa, Apr 24 '19 at 15:30
I can hardly imagine where you can use json object as string though. — u_mulder, Apr 24 '19 at 15:35
@Taplar `sentdata` is already a string and the correct content type is `application/json` — Musa, Apr 24 '19 at 15:35
@Taplar — `sentdata`, as Musa points out, is already a string. Running it through `JSON.stringify` will double encode it which is not remotely useful. — Quentin, Apr 24 '19 at 15:38
Ah, I missed that part. So it would just need the contentType for the request to properly put it in the body. @Quentin — Taplar, Apr 24 '19 at 15:40
@Taplar — No. The `type` property has to be an HTTP method (like `GET` or `POST`). The `dataType` property can be `json` but it describes the expected response and sets the `Accept` header. To set the Content-Type you need to use the `contentType` property to the correct MIME type (`application/json`) as per my answer. — Quentin, Apr 24 '19 at 15:44
Mmm, actually that's only the dataType that accepts the 'json' shorthand, -_- — Taplar, Apr 24 '19 at 15:44
@Taplar You're probably thinking about `dataType` because `http://api.jquery.com/jquery.ajax/` has nothing about `json` for `contentType` — Musa, Apr 24 '19 at 15:48

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 24 '19 at 15:33

The code should look this, notice the change to JS code

data: {data: sentdata}

var sentdata = '{ "name":"John", "age":30, "city":"New York"}';

$.ajax({
    url: 'save.php',
    type: 'post',
    data: {data: sentdata},
    success:function(response){
    console.log('Updated'); 
    }

});

Then you have string variable in PHP code:

$_POST["data"]

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 24 '19 at 15:35

You haven't set the Content-Type of the request, so PHP thinks you are sending application/x-www-form-urlencoded data.

Since your string doesn't have an = in it, it treats this as a key without a value and populates $_POST with that data.

You need to set the Content Type request header explicitly.

$.ajax({
    url: 'save.php',
    contentType: "application/json",
    // etc

However PHP will not automatically process JSON encoded requests. $_POST will be empty.

You need to parse the JSON manually as described in this question.

imvain2 · Answer 3 · 2019-04-24T15:35:12.723

0

You can still send as an object, but add the string as the value itself.

var sentdata = ['data' : '{"name":"John", "age":30, "city":"New York"}'];

Then just access it as $_POST["data"]

edited Apr 24 '19 at 15:35

answered Apr 24 '19 at 15:30

imvain2

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`Uncaught SyntaxError: Malformed arrow function parameter list` – Musa Apr 24 '19 at 15:33
Not correct js syntax, it should be `var sentdata = {data: '...'}` – u_mulder Apr 24 '19 at 15:33

Send JSON object as string not array

3 Answers3