Sending object via $.post - php

Question

I have an object saved in the variable called items.
0: Object
name: "Jim"
age: "42"
1: Object
name: "Bill"
age: "50"
When trying to post
$.post("mypage.php", items, function(data)
I get an empty post variable in the php page, but this returns post variables
$.post("mypage.php", "name=jim", function(data)
What am I doing wrong?
Edit it is an array of objects so if I pass
$.post( "mypage", items[0], function( data) {
I get a results but
$.post( "mypage", items, function( data) {
print_r is empty

Answer 1

It looks like the object you're posting may be an array with this format:
items = [
{
name: "Jim",
age: "42"
},
{
name: "Bill",
age: "50"
}
]
The docs seem to indicate that you must pass a plain object. You probably want to post something with the format:
items = {
people: [
{
name: "Jim",
age: "42"
},
{
name: "Bill",
age: "50"
}
]
};
Then you should be able to access the data via $_POST['people'].
UPDATE
To be accurate, you can post your array just fine, it will generate this post Jim=&Bill=
Almost surely not what you want. However if you follow the syntax specified by jQuery.param, your array will be treated correctly. Should be and array of objects with name and value:
items = [
{
name: "Jim",
value: "42"
},
{
name: "Bill",
value: "50"
}
]

Answer 2

You are using a curious behaviour of jQuery. It's found in the $.param function, which is used behind the scenes to prepare an AJAX query from your data.
If you send an array, jQuery expects it to be an array of objects, each of which has two keys, name and value. You are obviously not providing data in that structure. Your script actually sends data that looks like this:
Jim=undefined&Bill=undefined
If you do print_r($_POST['Jim']); in PHP, you will get the string undefined.
You obviously don't want this. You need to send the array within an object.
{
people: [
{
name: 'Jim',
age: 42
},
{
name: 'Bill',
age: '50'
}
]
}
This way your data will be serialised as this:
people[0][name]=Jim&people[0][value]=42&people[1][name]=Bill&people[1][age]=50
If you do print_r($_POST['people']);, you will get a meaningful result.