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How can I send JSON data from Javascript to a server and have PHP parse it there?

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json_decode might be what you're looking for? – Corbin Dec 22 '11 at 4:59
this will help you: [send json data from javascript][1] [1]: stackoverflow.com/questions/1255948/… – jogesh_p Dec 22 '11 at 4:59
This might help you stackoverflow.com/… – Arfeen Dec 22 '11 at 5:00
Hey all, thanks for the answers. Actually, I have a complete solution as well. I wanted to post it to this site because I come here all the time for information and wanted to finally provide some information. But I just created my account, and it won't allow me to post the answer for 8 hours :( – kermit Dec 22 '11 at 5:08
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6 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

I've gotten lots of information here so I wanted to post a solution I discovered.

The problem: Getting JSON data from Javascript on the browser, to the server, and having PHP successfully parse it.

Environment: Javascript in a browser (Firefox) on Windows. LAMP server as remote server: PHP 5.3.2 on Ubuntu.

What works (version 1):
1) JSON is just text. Text in a certain format, but just a text string.

2) In Javascript, var str_json = JSON.stringify(myObject) gives me the JSON string.

3) I use the AJAX XMLHttpRequest object in Javascript to send data to the server:
request= new XMLHttpRequestObject()
request.open("POST", "JSON_Handler.php")
request.setRequestHeader("Content-type", "application/json", true)
request.send(str_json)
[... code to display response ...]

4) On the server, PHP code to read the JSON string:
$str_json = file_get_contents('php://input');
This reads the raw POST data. $str_json now contains the exact JSON string from the browser.

What works (version 2):
1) If I want to use the "application/x-www-form-urlencoded" request header, I need to create a standard POST string of "x=y&a=b[etc]" so that when PHP gets it, it can put it in the $_POST associative array. So, in Javascript in the browser:

var str_json = "json_string=" + (JSON.stringify(myObject))

PHP will now be able to populate the $_POST array when I send str_json via AJAX/XMLHttpRequest as in version 1 above.

Displaying the contents of $_POST['json_string'] will display the JSON string. Using json_decode() on the $_POST array element with the json string will correctly decode that data and put it in an array/object.

The pitfall I ran into:
Initially, I tried to send the JSON string with the header of application/x-www-form-urlencoded and then tried to immediately read it out of the $_POST array in PHP. The $_POST array was always empty. That's because it is expecting data of the form yval=xval&[rinse_and_repeat]. It found no such data, only the JSON string, and it simply threw it away. I examined the request headers, and the POST data was being sent correctly.

Similarly, if I use the application/json header, I again cannot access the sent data via the $_POST array. If you want to use the application/json content-type header, then you must access the raw POST data in PHP, via php://input, not with $_POST.

References:
1) How to access POST data in PHP: How to access POST data in PHP?
2) Details on the application/json type, with some sample objects which can be converted to JSON strings and sent to the server: http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4627.txt

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up vote 2 down vote

There are 3 relevant ways to send Data from client Side (HTML, Javascript, Vbscript ..etc) to Server Side (PHP, ASP, JSP ...etc)

1. HTML form Posting Request (GET or POST).
2. AJAX (This also comes under GET and POST)
3. Cookie

HTML form Posting Request (GET or POST)

This is most commonly used method, and we can send more Data through this method

AJAX

This is Asynchronous method and this has to work with secure way, here also we can send more Data.

Cookie

This is nice way to use small amount of insensitive data. this is the best way to work with bit of data.

In your case You can prefer HTML form post or AJAX. But before sending to server validate your json by yourself or use link like http://jsonlint.com/

If you have Json Object convert it into String using JSON.stringify(object), If you have JSON string send it as it is.

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@kermit Is this answer helpful for you? – Robin Michael Poothurai Dec 22 '11 at 7:04
It is helpful, thanks. I originally posted my question with the intention of answering it instantly, originally. However, to prevent spamming and bogus accounts, the stackoverflow first-post and self-answer mechanisms are making me wait for a while. I've gotten a lot of information here and wanted to provide some information back to readers. Your answer will definitely provide information to readers. – kermit Dec 23 '11 at 5:52
@kermit thanks for reply, mark any one of answer as accept, you can mark your own answer also. – Robin Michael Poothurai Dec 23 '11 at 7:11
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up vote 1 down vote

using JSON.stringify(yourObj) or Object.toJSON(yourObj) last one is for using prototype.js, then send it using whatever you want, ajax or submit, and you use, as suggested, json_decode ( http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.json-decode.php ) to parse it in php. And then you can use it as an array.

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up vote 1 down vote

PHP has a built in function called json_decode(). Just pass the JSON string into this function and it will convert it to the PHP equivalent string, array or object.

In order to pass it as a string from Javascript, you can convert it to JSON using

JSON.stringify(object);

or a library such as Prototype

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up vote 1 down vote

I recommend the jquery.post() method.

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up vote 0 down vote 
    <html>
<script type="text/javascript">
var myJSONObject = {"bindings": 11};
alert(myJSONObject);

var stringJson =JSON.stringify(myJSONObject);
alert(stringJson);
</script>
</html>
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