What does query string look like on the receiving end

[Claus Mygind]

In my code I am sending a number of records via an ajax post method to the web-server for updating a table. I will parse the query string when it is received on the server side. But I am not sure if I need to make each element in each record a unique name/identifier. Right now I was just trying to figure out what the query string looks like when it arrives at the server.

I kind of see the errors of my ways, but would like some clarification. Instead of separating each element with an &, I could use some other delimiter, so it will be only 1 large string which I would parse. Or as I assemble the string (see code below line 38) I could attach a row # to each element in each row ie: GroupKey1, GroupName1...., GroupKey2, GroupName2.....

Not sure what is the best option or can I just send multiple records with the same identifiers?

Each record consist of just 4 fields

GROUPKEY = GROUPNAME + JDEPTID + PHASECODE
GROUPNAME
JDEPTID
PHASECODE

/*
    Ajax communication with server section
    for submtting updated templates.
*/
var tempHttp;
 
function submitTemplates()
{
    if (window.ActiveXObject) 
    {
        tempHttp = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
    }else if (window.XMLHttpRequest) {
        tempHttp = new XMLHttpRequest();
    }
 
    var url = "upDateTemplates.exe?timeStamp=" + new Date().getTime();
    var queryString = buildQueryString();
    tempHttp.onreadystatechange = handleStateChange;
    tempHttp.open("POST", url, true);
    tempHttp.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded");
    tempHttp.send(queryString);
}
function buildQueryString()
{
    var cG        = ""
    var cD        = ""
    var cP        = ""
    var cString = ""
    for (i in aTemplates )
    {
        cG = i;
        for (n in aTemplates[i])
        {
            cD = n.substring(1);
            for (p in aTemplates[i][n] )
            {
                cP = p.substring(1);
                cString += "GROUPKEY="+cG+cD+cP+"&GROUPNAME="+cG+"&JDEPTID="+cD+"&PHASECODE="+cP+"&"
            }
        }
    }
    cString += "method=POST";
    return cString;
}
 

[Dormilich]

or you could use a serializer. serialize your object/array/variable in javascript and unserialize it in your server script. you got one large string to submit and less work on splitting it up on the server.

regards

[Claus Mygind]

Very interesting but I do not know what a serializer is. All my data as you can see does come from a javaScript array of objects. So if you could show me some example code to follow that would be great.

[acoder]

Depends on your server-side language. In PHP, for example, you can use array notation, e.g. GROUPKEY[] and use the same name. In Coldfusion, same name fields would appear as a list. Other languages may have something similar.

[Claus Mygind]

Thanks for the update, that helps. In the language I am using with the pre-defined modules the info is simply read into an array. So with your help and just a little coding sense I solved my issue.