jquery add to array then submit and pass data not working - php

Question

My problem is:
I'm trying to submit an array of hidden input types, which are stacked into an array using jquery onclick, to a PHP file. However, when I try to count or even echo the passed variable in the php file (saveTest.php), no data appears or the count variable is zero.
I've searched and I found this guy's question:
pass an array from jQuery to PHP (and actually go to the page after submit)
I think I'm close to the above post but I'm still a newbie in jQuery so I don't understand much of the codes.
This is my jquery:
$(function(){
$("td").click(function(){
if($(this).hasClass("on"))
{
alert("Already marked absent");
}
else
{
$(this).addClass("on");
var currentCellText = $(this).text();
$("#collect").append("<input type='text' hidden = '" + currentCellText + "'/>" + currentCellText);
}
});
$("#clicky").click(function(){
$("td").removeClass("on");
$("#collect").text('');
$("#collect").append("Absentees: <br>")
});
});
<?php
session_start();
include 'connectdb.php';
$classID = $_SESSION['csID'];
$classQry = "SELECT e.csID, c.subjCode, c.section, b.subj_name, e.studentID, CONCAT(s.lname, ', ' , s.fname)name
FROM ENROLLMENT e, CLASS_SCHEDULE c, STUDENT s, SUBJECT b
WHERE e.csID = c.csID
AND c.csID = '" . $classID . "'
AND c.subjCode = b.subjCode
AND e.studentID = s.studentID
ORDER BY e.sort;";
$doClassQry = mysql_query($classQry);
echo "<table id='tableone'>";
while($x = mysql_fetch_array($doClassQry))
{
$subject = $x['subj_name'];
$subjCode = $x['subjCode'];
$section = $x['section'];
$studentArr[] = $x['name'];
$studentID[] = $x['studentID'];
}
echo "<thead>";
echo "<tr><th colspan = 7>" . "This is your class: " . $subjCode . " " . $section . " : " . $subject . "</th></tr>";
echo "</thead>";
echo "<tbody>";
echo "<tr>";
for($i = 0; $i < mysql_num_rows($doClassQry); $i++)
{
if($i % 7 == 0)
{
echo "</tr><tr><td id = '". $studentID[$i] . " '>" . $studentArr[$i] . "</td>";
}
else
{
echo "<td id = '". $studentID[$i] . " '>" . $studentArr[$i] . "</td>";
}
}
echo "</tr>";
echo "</tbody>";
echo "</table>";
?>
This is my php file (saveTest.php)
<?php
$absent = $_POST['absent'];
//echo "absnt" . $absent[] . "<br>";
echo count($absent);
?>

Answer 1

Add name to hidden field:
$("#collect").append("<input type='hidden' name="absent[] value= '" + currentCellText + "'/>" + currentCellText);

Answer 2

It looks like you want to submit a javascript array to a php script and then make use of it. You can make use of .each() function to loop through all the hidden values and adding them into the array. Then use $.post to submit the array to a php script.
<script src="jquery.js"></script>
<script>
$(function(){
$('#btn_submit').click(function(){
var array_hidden = [];
$('input[type=hidden]').each(function(index){
var current_value = $.trim($(this).val());
array_hidden[index] = current_value;
});
$.post('arraysubmit.php', {'hidden_array' : array_hidden}, function(data){
$('#results').html(data);
});
});
});
</script>
<?php for($x=0; $x<=10; $x++){ ?>
<input type="hidden" name="name[]" value="Name<?php echo $x; ?>">
<?php } ?>
<input type="button" id="btn_submit">
<div id="results"></div>
You can then access the array in the php script using the post variable and do whatever you want with it:
$_POST['hidden_array']