Ajax POST-request doesn't come through to PHP - php

Question

I'm firing an HTTP POST request with Ajax to my php file, but I don't get the desired result. $_POST and $_GET are both empty. I think I'm overlooking something, but I have no clue what.
Here's my code for firing the request:
this.save = function() {
alert(ko.toJSON([this.name, this.description, this.pages]));
$.ajax("x", {
data: ko.toJSON([this.name, this.description, this.pages]),
type: "post", contentType: "application/json",
success: function(result) { alert(result) },
error : function(jqXHR, textStatus, errorThrown) { alert(textStatus + errorThrown)}
});
};
Note that I alert the JSON on line 3. That JSON is correct, so the input on line 5 is valid.
My test method in PHP:
header('Content-type: application/json; charset=utf-8');
echo json_encode(array_merge($_POST, $_GET));
exit;
The response I'm getting is an empty array.
I tested the input (see above);
I know the Ajax call itself succeeds, if I replace that second line in my PHP example with json_encode(array('success' => true)); I get that back in my page - so the URL is correct.
I tested it with both GET and POST, with similar negative results.

Answer 1

You are sending a JSON request, that's why both $_POST and $_GET are empty. Try sending the data like this:
$.ajax("x", {
data: { data: [this.name, this.description, this.pages] },
type: "post",
success: function(result) { alert(result) },
error : function(jqXHR, textStatus, errorThrown) { alert(textStatus + errorThrown)}
});
Now look inside $_POST["data"].
or if you need to use a JSON request then you need to deserialize it back in your PHP file:
$.ajax("x", {
data: { data: ko.toJSON([this.name, this.description, this.pages]) },
type: "post",
success: function(result) { alert(result) },
error : function(jqXHR, textStatus, errorThrown) { alert(textStatus + errorThrown)}
});
and then decode:
$json = $_POST['json'];
$data = json_decode($json);
and if you want to send pure JSON request in the POST body:
$.ajax("x", {
data: ko.toJSON([this.name, this.description, this.pages]),
type: "post",
contentType: 'application/json',
success: function(result) { alert(result) },
error : function(jqXHR, textStatus, errorThrown) { alert(textStatus + errorThrown)}
});
and then:
$data = json_decode(file_get_contents("php://input"));
Notice that php://input is a read-only stream that allows you to read raw data from the request body.