How can I get form data with JavaScript/jQuery?

Question

Is there a simple, one-line way to get the data of a form as it would be if it was to be submitted in the classic HTML-only way?

For example:

Answer 1

I wrote a library to solve this very problem: JSONForms. It takes a form, goes through each input and builds a JSON object you can easily read.

Say you have the following form:

<form enctype='application/json'>
  <input name='places[0][city]' value='New York City'>
  <input type='number' name='places[0][population]' value='8175133'>
  <input name='places[1][city]' value='Los Angeles'>
  <input type='number' name='places[1][population]' value='3792621'>
  <input name='places[2][city]' value='Chicago'>
  <input type='number' name='places[2][population]' value='2695598'>
</form>

Passing the form to JSONForms' encode method returns you the following object:

{
  "places": [
    {
      "city": "New York City",
      "population": 8175133
    },
    {
      "city": "Los Angeles",
      "population": 3792621
    },
    {
      "city": "Chicago",
      "population": 2695598
    }
  ]
}

Here's demo with your form.

Answer 2

This method should do it. It serializes the form data and then converts them to an object. Takes care of groups of checkboxes as well.

function getFormObj(formId) {
  var formParams = {};
  $('#' + formId)
    .serializeArray()
    .forEach(function(item) {
      if (formParams[item.name]) {
        formParams[item.name] = [formParams[item.name]];
        formParams[item.name].push(item.value)
      } else {
        formParams[item.name] = item.value
      }
    });
  return formParams;
}

Answer 3

use .serializeArray() to get the data in array format and then convert it into an object:

function getFormObj(formId) {
    var formObj = {};
    var inputs = $('#'+formId).serializeArray();
    $.each(inputs, function (i, input) {
        formObj[input.name] = input.value;
    });
    return formObj;
}

Answer 4

Updated answer for 2014: HTML5 FormData does this

var formData = new FormData(document.querySelector('form'))

You can then post formData exactly as it is - it contains all names and values used in the form.

Answer 5

function getFormData($form){
    var unindexed_array = $form.serializeArray();
    var indexed_array = {};

    $.map(unindexed_array, function(n, i){
        if(indexed_array[n['name']] == undefined){
            indexed_array[n['name']] = [n['value']];
        }else{
            indexed_array[n['name']].push(n['value']);
        }
    });

    return indexed_array;
}

Answer 6

You are all not fully correct. You cannot write:

formObj[input.name] = input.value;

Because this way if you have multiselect list - its values will be overwritten with the last one, since it's transmitted as: "param1" : "value1", "param1" : "value2".

So, correct approach is:

if (formData[input.name] === undefined) {
    formData[input.name] = input.value;
}
else {
    var inputFieldArray = $.merge([], $.isArray(formData[input.name]) ? formData[input.name] : [formData[input.name]]);
    $.merge(inputFieldArray, [input.value]);
    formData[input.name] = $.merge([], inputFieldArray);
}