Ajax Array to PHP issue - php

Question

Im having difficulties when parsing an array using Ajax to PHP to send an email with the values from the array.
Ajax code:
$(document).ready(function(){
$("#submit-button").click(function(){
var countryArray = ['Location Zero', 'Location One', 'Location Two'];
dataString = countryArray;
var jsonString = JSON.stringify(dataString);
$.ajax({
type: "POST",
url: "sendmail.php",
data: {countries: jsonString},
success: function (msg) {
$("#errors").text("Thank you for getting in touch, we will get back to you!");
},
error: function (msg) {
$("#errors").text("Error sending email, please try again.");
alert("error");
}
});
});
});
PHP code:
<?php
$to = "abc#abc.com";
$countries = json_decode($_POST['countries']);
$header = "Content-Type: text/html\r\nReply-To: \r\nFrom: <>";
$subject = "Email from the Lister customer";
$body = #"$countries";
if(mail($to, $subject, $body, $header)) {
die("true");
} else {
die("There was an error sending the email.");
}
?>
But all I'm getting with in the email from $countries is word "Array" instead of the values.
Can anyone help please?

Answer 1

$countries is an array. If you want it to be displayed as a list in your $body, you can do:
$body = implode(', ', $countries);
Please also try not to suppress (#) PHP errors, it'll cause you more headaches in the future.

Answer 2

<?php
$to = "abc#abc.com";
$countries = json_decode($_POST['countries']);
$header = "Content-Type: text/html\r\nReply-To: \r\nFrom: <>";
$subject = "Email from the Lister customer";
$body = implode(", ", $countries);
if(mail($to, $subject, $body, $header)) {
die("true");
} else {
die("There was an error sending the email.");
}
?>

Answer 3

If you're using jquery, try using .serializeArray() instead of stringify.
Also, when receiving the $_POST['contries'] variables, you need to implode it. Try this:
$(document).ready(function(){
$("#submit-button").click(function(){
var countryArray = ['Location Zero', 'Location One', 'Location Two'];
$.ajax({
type: "POST",
url: "sendmail.php",
data: {countries: countryArray.serializeArray()},
success: function (msg) {
$("#errors").text("Thank you for getting in touch, we will get back to you!");
},
error: function (msg) {
$("#errors").text("Error sending email, please try again.");
alert("error");
}
});
});
});
And then in PHP use this to properly grab the countries values:
implode(', '.$countries);