HTTP POST Array Params for Java/Android

When building a HTTP POST Query in PHP I can use a simple method called: http_build_query which will return the following based on the array passed to function:

Simple array:

Array
(
    [0] => foo
    [1] => bar
    [2] => baz
    [3] => boom
    [cow] => milk
    [php] => hypertext processor
)

Returns:

flags_0=foo&flags_1=bar&flags_2=baz&flags_3=boom&cow=milk&php=hypertext+processor

A Bit more complex array:

Array
(
[user] => Array
    (
        [name] => Bob Smith
        [age] => 47
        [sex] => M
        [dob] => 5/12/1956
    )

[past开发者_如何学Cimes] => Array
    (
        [0] => golf
        [1] => opera
        [2] => poker
        [3] => rap
    )

[children] => Array
    (
        [bobby] => Array
            (
                [age] => 12
                [sex] => M
            )

        [sally] => Array
            (
                [age] => 8
                [sex] => F
            )

    )

[0] => CEO
)

Returns:

user%5Bname%5D=Bob+Smith&user%5Bage%5D=47&user%5Bsex%5D=M&user%5Bdob%5D=5%2F12%2F1956&pastimes%5B0%5D=golf&pastimes%5B1%5D=opera&pastimes%5B2%5D=poker&pastimes%5B3%5D=rap&children%5Bbobby%5D%5Bage%5D=12&children%5Bbobby%5D%5Bsex%5D=M&children%5Bsally%5D%5Bage%5D=8&children%5Bsally%5D%5Bsex%5D=F&flags_0=CEO

What I'm asking is, is there any way to create the latter entity format in Java/Android? I've tried the following without any luck:

List<NameValuePair> nameValuePairs = new ArrayList<NameValuePair>(3);
nameValuePairs.add(new BasicNameValuePair("user", null));
nameValuePairs.add(new BasicNameValuePair("firstname", "admin"));
nameValuePairs.add(new BasicNameValuePair("lastname", "admin"));
httppost.setEntity(new UrlEncodedFormEntity(nameValuePairs));

Hopefully someone know how to achieve this :) Kind regards, Morten

EDIT:

Basically what i need is to to product the Java equivalent of this PHP:

$params = array('user' => array(
    'firstname' => 'Bob Smith',
    'lastname' => 'Johnson'
));

And this is the same request in JSON format:

{"user":{"firstname":"Bob Smith","lastname":"Johnson"}}

I just need the Java equivalent in application/x-www-form-urlencoded format ;)

BTW. Thanks alot for answering sudocode, really appriciate it!

I've got it. Here's the sample code:

        String data = EntityUtils.toString(new UrlEncodedFormEntity(nameValuePairs,"UTF-8"));
        data = "&" + data.replaceAll("%5B0%5D", "[0]");
        StringEntity se = new StringEntity(data, "UTF-8");
        se.setContentType("application/x-www-form-urlencoded");
        se.setContentEncoding("UTF-8");
        httppost.setEntity(se);

A bit nasty, but it's working. You may want to get it a bit more generic - this is for 1-element array only.

I think your code is correct, but your expectation of what output it should produce is incorrect. I don't think you should expect your parameter names to be surrounded in square brackets (urlencoded: %5B and %5D).

If you need that, then you will need to add the brackets to your Java code, e.g.

nameValuePairs.add(new BasicNameValuePair("[firstname]", "admin"));