Ajax: Form fields into URL query string

Here’s a quickie for you Ajax coders who need a function to parse your form fields into a URL query string. It handles input fields (text, hidden, whatever), radio and checkbox elements, and single/multiple select menus. Just make sure that all your form fields have IDs. Multiple choice SELECTs get grouped by pipes (|). Update:Modified multiple-choice SELECTs to work like real GETs.

function build_post_string(frm) {
	
	var poststr;
	var poststr_array = [];
	
	if (!frm.id) {
		// assume it's a string. get the form object
		frm = document.getElementById(frm);
	}
	
	for (i=0;i<frm.elements.length;i++){

		var elem = frm.elements;
		
		if (!elem.id) {
			// skip any fields that don't have IDs
			continue;	
		}
		
		if (elem.type == 'radio' || elem.type == 'checkbox') {
			// only grab radio buttons and checkboxes that are checked
			if (!elem.checked) {
				continue;	
			}
		}
		
		
		// get select values
		if (elem.nodeName.match(/SELECT/i) && elem.multiple) {
			//var sel = elem;
			var sel_array = new Array();

			for (var o=0;o<elem.options.length;o++) {
				
				if (elem.options[o].selected) {
					sel_array[sel_array.length] = elem.id+"="+elem.options[o].value;	
				}
			}
			
			var sel_str = sel_array.join('&');
			
			// build key/value pairs for SELECTs
			poststr_array[poststr_array.length] = sel_str;
		}
		else if (elem.nodeName.match(/SELECT/i)) {
			poststr_array[poststr_array.length] = elem.id+'='+elem.options[elem.selectedIndex].value;
		}
		else {
			// build key/value pairs for everything else
			poststr_array[poststr_array.length] = elem.id+"="+elem.value;
		}
		
		
	}

	// build poststr
	poststr = poststr_array.join("&");
	return poststr;
	
}

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