POST json data via ajax sends an empty array

Question

I'm trying to post data via ajax, this is my info:

    var jsondata =
                {"address" : [
                { "id": addid, "streetaddress": streetaddress, "city": city, "state": state,  "zipcode": zipcode, "latitude": latitude},
            ]   
            };  

    var jsontosend = JSON.stringify(jsondata, null, 2);

ajax function:

    $.ajax({
                type: "POST",
                url: "process.php",
                contentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8",
                dataType: "JSON",
                data: jsontosend,
                success: function(msg){
                   alert(msg);
                          }
             });

            return false;

            alert('Data sent');

}

on the php end, when i print_r($_POST) it just says

    array(0) {
    }

I'm alerting (jsontosend) and its showing me everything perfectly, as well as in firebug using post mothod, its showing all the params sent in a perfect clean manner.

The only way it passes any data is if I use GET method.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

EDIT: adding POST data from firebug. this is whats being alerted from the alert function:

    {"address":[{"id":1473294,"streetaddress":"3784 Howard Ave","city":"Washington DC","state":"DC","zipcode":20895,"latitude":39.027820587}]}

this is what firebug is showing as whats being passed when using POST method:

    myData=%7B%0A++++%22address%22%3A+%5B%0A++++++++%7B%0A++++++++++++%22id%22%3A+76076%2C%0A++++++++++++%22streetaddress%22%3A+%223784+Howard+Ave%22%2C%0A++++++++++++%22city%22%3A+%22Washington+DC%22%2C%0A++++++++++++%22state%22%3A+%22DC%22%2C%0A++++++++++++%22zipcode%22%3A+20895%2C%0A++++++++++++%22latitude%22%3A+39.027820587%0A++++++++%7D%0A++++%5D%0A%7D

and this is the response for var_dump of $_POST:

    array(0) {

}

this is a var_dump of $_POST['myData']

    NULL

Do you have any "occasional" redirects before the posted data reaches php script? — Cheery
– Cheery, Commented Jan 24, 2012 at 7:23
I dont think so, Im not sure I fully understand what you mean though. — Mike
– Mike, Commented Jan 24, 2012 at 7:25
"when i print_r..." what do you mean? opening this page in your browser? — k102
– k102, Commented Jan 24, 2012 at 7:30
firebug shows you all the responses from the php script being called. — Mike
– Mike, Commented Jan 24, 2012 at 7:32
@Mike I mean any 302 redirect on the server side? It will loose the post data. What do you have in $_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD']? — Cheery
– Cheery, Commented Jan 24, 2012 at 7:44

Steven Wexler · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-24 07:51:18Z

11

I'm skeptical of the way you're using the contentType property. Try taking out contentType. The default content type is application/x-www-form-urlencoded (http://api.jquery.com/jQuery.ajax/).

Also, use something like {mydata: jsontosend} for your data property.

$.ajax({
            type: "POST",
            url: "process.php",
            //contentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8",
            dataType: "JSON",
            data: {mydata: jsontosend},
            success: function(msg){
               alert(msg);
                      }
         });

answered Jan 24, 2012 at 7:51

Steven Wexler

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Comments

dkulkarni · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-24 07:29:50Z

2

Use

data:{myData: jsontosend}

It should send myData as a parameter in your request.

answered Jan 24, 2012 at 7:29

dkulkarni

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5 Comments

Mike Over a year ago

I've tried, in different combinations, with and without "" around mydata and it still returns an empty array.

dkulkarni Over a year ago

Hey have you tried fetching the data from the php input data stream? <?php $data = file_get_contents('php://input'); $data = json_decode($data, true); print_r($data); ?>

dkulkarni Over a year ago

When you use the JSON content-type, on the PHP side, it's necessary to manually read the JSON string directly from the request body using the php://input stream.

Mike Over a year ago

I haven't tried that, but removing the content type fixed it.

Mike Over a year ago

I just tested your method, (copy/pasting your code exactly), it returned null

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 10:31:12Z

2

PHP doesn't understand application/json requests (by default). See this question: How to post JSON to PHP with curl

edited May 23, 2017 at 10:31

CommunityBot

11 silver badge

answered Jun 8, 2012 at 9:16

Jeroen Versteeg

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Comments

carbontax · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-31 14:41:10Z

2

I found that the comment provided by dkulkarni was the best solution here. It is necessary to read directly from the input stream to get POST data of any complexity. Changing the value of $.ajax({contentType: ''}) did not work for me..

In order to troubleshoot this problem I had set up a controller method to echo back the JSON I was posting to my server. Changing the ContentType header made no difference. But after reading dkulkarni's comment I changed my server code from this:

    return $_POST;

to this:

    $data = file_get_contents('php://input');
    return json_decode($data);

It worked perfectly.

answered Aug 31, 2012 at 14:41

carbontax

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Comments

ixx · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-29 17:53:56Z

1

As dkulkarni commented in his post (Jan 24 at 7:53), the only way to retrieve JSON sent with Content-Type application/json seems to be to retrieve it directly from the input stream.

I made a lot of tests with different approaches, but always when I set Content-Type to JSON, the $_POST in PHP is empty.

My problem is I need to set Content-Type to JSON, because the server (where I don't have access) expects it, otherwise it returns unsupported datatype. I suppose they are retrieving directly from input stream.

Why I have to reproduce that in own PHP file? Because I need to make a proxy for testing issues, but thats not the point of this thread.

answered Jan 29, 2012 at 17:53

ixx

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1 Comment

Mike Over a year ago

can't you leave datatype: "JSON" and still remove content-type? Thats what I did and it works perfectly. Though it took hours of pulling my hair out before I saw Steven Wexler's answer.

bluegrass · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-30 19:05:51Z

Taking contentType out is not a good idea. You DO want to send this data in JSON format. Key is to do what has been mentioned above, instead of trying to access the data on the receiving end (the target php file) with $data= $_POST it is critical to use $data = file_get_contents('php://input');

Here is an example of the entire round trip for a scenario with php and knockout.js:

JS (on requesting page):

function() {
   var payload = ko.toJSON({ YOUR KNOCKOUT OBJECT });
   jQuery.ajax({
            url: 'target.php',
            type: "POST",
            data: payload,
            datatype: "json",
            processData: false,
            contentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8",
            success: function (result) {
                alert(result);
            }
        });
 };

And then in target.php (the page receiving the request):

$data = file_get_contents('php://input');
$payload_jsonDecoded = json_decode($data

Subodh · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-24 07:49:36Z

0

Try removing ' dataType: "JSON" ' from the ajax request and check.

answered Jan 24, 2012 at 7:49

Subodh

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