Sending all input fields with jquery .post()

I have collected the values of all input field into an array as follows:开发者_开发知识库

 $( ".formbox" ) . each( function(id,elem){
    form_fields[ "input-" + $( elem ) . attr( "id" )  ] = $( elem ) . val( ); 
   });

 $.log( "Collected:", form_fields );

This does work, and then I try passing the array using post

 $.post(
    "server.php", 
    {
        fields: form_fields
    },
    function(ret) {

       if (!ret.success )
         alert ( "Error! Reload please!" );
       else
       {
       }
    }, 
    'json'
  );

However while retrieving, Firebug indicates that the fields are empty

As I understood I need to serialize the array or not use it at all. But what could I use instead?

Please tell what is it that I am doing wrong?

---------- added ---------- ...I just found this

 form_fields = {};

:)

I don't understand how but that solved the problem Please tell me what the difference is between an Array and {}? What does {} in JS ?

{} is used for creating objects and [] is used for arrays to indicate indexes. The difference is that.

Sample code:

var obj = {name:"Captain",last_name:"Caveman",run:function(speed){//run;}}

//equivalent to 

var obj = new Object();
obj.name = "Captain";
obj.last_name = "caveman";
obj.run = function(speed){
  //run;
}

I've just created a new object on-the-fly with {} follow the code below to call its members

document.write(obj.name); 
document.write(obj.run("fast"));

But arrays are more simple than an object.

JSON: Javascript Object Notation

More about JSON: http://www.w3schools.com/js/js_objects.asp

More about Arrays: http://www.w3schools.com/js/js_obj_array.asp

I can only recommend the JQuery form plugin. It takes care of all this mess and even supports a transparent file upload mode. (Because normally you cant upload files using AJAX.)

Try:

var fields = {};
$('.formbox input').each(function(){
    var $this = $(this);
    fields['input-' + $this.attr('name')] = $this.val(); 
});

$.log( "Collected:", fields );


$.post("server.php", fields, function(ret) {
   if (!ret.success)
     alert ( "Error! Reload please!" );
   else{
   }
}, 'json');

form_fields = {}; means assign an empty Object to form_fields. {} is used to denote objects, whereas [] is used to denote arrays.