jQuery - can I fill form inputs from a serialized form string?

Question

Given that I have some form on a page, I know I can get a unicode serialized string using

var query = jQuery('#some-form').serialize();

It's also possible setting the value of each input with $('#some-input').val(...). Assuming that same form above was reset, but I still have the query string - is there a simple way to populate the form from that string? I realize I could parse it and set every input/select individually, but I was looking for a simpler solution. Thanks.

Answer 1

You could serialize the form into a JSON array and use an MVVM mapping plugin like Knockout.js to auto-fill the form.

See Serializing to JSON in jQuery

Answer 2

jquery.deserialize plugin should help you.

Answer 3

If your form only contains text inputs (not as arrays), you may try this plugin, which I've adapted from its unserialize function counterpart (https://gist.github.com/rcmachado/242617#file-jquery-unserialize-js), but instead of returning an object, it fills the form it applies to.

(function($){
    $.fn.fillformwithserialized = function(serializedString) {
        var str = decodeURI(serializedString);
        var pairs = str.split('&');
        var p, idx, val;
        for (var i=0, n=pairs.length; i < n; i++) {
            p = pairs[i].split('=');
            idx = p[0];

            var txtBox = this.find('#' + idx + ':input');
            if (txtBox.is(":text")) {
                txtBox.val(p[1]);
            }
        }

        return this;
    };
})(jQuery);

Example of use:

var dataSerialised = sessionStorage.getItem('frmVeryImportantStuff');

if (dataSerialised == null || !confirm("We could restore the previous version of the form you posted. Shall we?"))
return false;
else {
    $("#frmVeryImportantStuff").fillformwithserialized(dataSerialised);
}

Obviously you'll need to have saved your form in the sessionStorage in the first place. Example:

sessionStorage.setItem("frmVeryImportantStuff", $(frmVeryImportantStuff).serialize());