This might seem like an unordinary json question but I can assure you I couldn't find an answer to my problem.

In the code example below I would like to get (possibly decode the json data that is being transferred. I've tried json_decode($_POST). By the way the request type is POST. Is there anyway I can obtain the json data into an array or a variable so when I would like to call name or age I will easily retrieve them from request?

I'm following a backbone.js tutorial and here is my model;

<script type="text/javascript">
        var URL=Backbone.Model.extend({
            initialize: function()
            {
                console.log("URL has been initialized");
            },
            defaults:{
                name:'not defined',
                age:'not defined'
            },
            urlRoot:"/Backbone/manage.php",
            url:function(){
                var base = this.urlRoot || (this.collection && this.collection.url) || "/";
                console.log("Base has been produced");
                if(this.isNew()) return base;

                return base+"?id="+encodeURIComponent(this.id);
            }
        });

        var url=new URL({name:"John",age:10});
        url.save();
    </script>

Later on I use Google Chrome in order to watch the network and I can clear see that the data is passed as form data. Here is the result in Google's Network Tool;

model:{"name":"John","age":10}

This might seem like an unordinary json question but I can assure you I couldn't find an answer to my problem.

In the code example below I would like to get (possibly decode the json data that is being transferred. I've tried json_decode($_POST). By the way the request type is POST. Is there anyway I can obtain the json data into an array or a variable so when I would like to call name or age I will easily retrieve them from request?

I'm following a backbone.js tutorial and here is my model;

<script type="text/javascript">
        var URL=Backbone.Model.extend({
            initialize: function()
            {
                console.log("URL has been initialized");
            },
            defaults:{
                name:'not defined',
                age:'not defined'
            },
            urlRoot:"/Backbone/manage.php",
            url:function(){
                var base = this.urlRoot || (this.collection && this.collection.url) || "/";
                console.log("Base has been produced");
                if(this.isNew()) return base;

                return base+"?id="+encodeURIComponent(this.id);
            }
        });

        var url=new URL({name:"John",age:10});
        url.save();
    </script>

Later on I use Google Chrome in order to watch the network and I can clear see that the data is passed as form data. Here is the result in Google's Network Tool;

model:{"name":"John","age":10}

• php
• javascript
• json
• backbone.js

• Use print_r($_POST); to see which field name carries the payload, if any. It doesn't just show up as $_POST with raw data. It would be json_decode($_POST["varname"]) (e.g. "id", but that's your issue) or possibly reside in php://input. – mario Commented May 17, 2012 at 22:53

2 Answers 2

If you are getting JSON payload as raw post data you can read it with:

json_decode(file_get_contents('php://input'));

You could also read it from $HTTP_RAW_POST_DATA if php.ini settings allow for that variable do be filled.

Since what you are getting is:

model=%7B%22name%22%3A%22John%22%2C%22age%22%3A10%7D

You can't directly decode it as JSON because it's not valid JSON.

So try:

parse_str(file_get_contents('php://input'), $post);
$myObject = json_decode($post['model']);

You'll need to do json_decode on the model key of the $_POST array. The model key contains the json string that you need to decode.

$modelData = json_decode($_POST['model']);

Then you can access the data like $modelData->name or $modelData->age;

EDIT:

Try adding this to your backbone set up:

Backbone.emulateHTTP = true;
Backbone.emulateJSON = true;

This will make it so you are getting application/x-www-form-urlencoded instead of application/json. This should then populate your $_POST array correctly.

See here for explanation: http://documentcloud.github./backbone/docs/backbone.html#section-162