Backbone Send Post data encoded as query string - rest

Question

I'm creating a backbone app that's connecting to a RESTful backend. When I call save() on a model, it sends the post data as stringified JSON:
{"firstName":"first","lastName":"last","Email":"email#gmail.com"}
but my server expects it to be formatted like a querystring:
firstName=first&lastName=last&Email=email#gmail.com
is there a way to have backbone send it differently?

Answer 1

Backbone doesn't provide anything like this out of the box.
But is easy to override and customize it to your needs.
Have a look to the source code:
http://documentcloud.github.com/backbone/docs/backbone.html
and check out that calling save, it will trigger a sync call in the background.
So what you need is to override Backbone.sync function with your own.
I would modify the part of:
if (!options.data && model && (method == 'create' || method == 'update')) {
params.contentType = 'application/json';
params.data = JSON.stringify(model.toJSON());
}
with
if (!options.data && model && (method == 'create' || method == 'update')) {
params.contentType = 'application/json';
params.data = $.param(model); // <-- CHANGED
}
Notice I'm using jQuery param
If you want to use a custom function, check this question:
Query-string encoding of a Javascript Object
[Update.]
No need to modify directly. Better override it with your own function 'Backbone.sync'
Check the "TODO" example of the Backbone repository. It has a localStorage.js file that overrides Backbone.sync function https://github.com/documentcloud/backbone/tree/master/examples

Answer 2

I ran into this problem at work and the Backbone.emulateJSON didn't work for me either. With some help I was able to come up with this workaround. We overrode the Backbone.ajax function and changed the contentType to "application/x-www-form-urlencoded" and used $.param to properly serialize the data.
Backbone.ajax = function() {
if(arguments[0].data && arguments[0].contentType == "application/json"){
arguments[0].data = $.param(JSON.parse(arguments[0].data));
arguments[0].contentType = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded";
}
return Backbone.$.ajax.apply(Backbone.$, arguments);
}

Answer 3

maybe this can help you,try:
http://backbonejs.org/#Sync-emulateJSON

Answer 4

I have done this by overriding model's sync function:
var MyModel = Backbone.Model.extend({
"sync": function(method, model, options) {
if (method == "update" || method == "create") {
options = options ? _.clone(options) : {};
options['data'] = $.param(this['attributes']);
}
var arguments = [method, model, options];
return Backbone.sync.apply(this, arguments);
}
});

Answer 5

I find solutions, see :
I use
Backbone.emulateJSON = true;
I write the "update" case:
options.url = "/user/"+Math.random(1, 1000);
options.type = "POST";
//.1/2 WORK
//options.data = (model instanceof Backbone.Model)?model.toJSON():{};
options.data = model.toJSON();
break;

Answer 6

Backbone.sync uses the jQuery.ajax function, so we can modify the jqXHR or data that is sended to the server (via beforeSend).
var oldSync = Backbone.Model.prototype.sync;
var SomeModel = Backbone.Model.extend({
url: 'test.json',
defaults: {
id: 1,
foo: 'test'
},
sync: function (method, model, options) {
// options are passed to the jQuery.ajax
_.extend(options, {
emulateHTTP: true,
emulateJSON: false,
beforeSend: function(xhr, settings) {
// settings.data is a body of our request.
if (_.isString(settings.data)) {
// settings.data is a JSON-string like '{"id":1, "foo":"test"}'
settings.data = Backbone.$.parseJSON(settings.data);
}
settings.data = Backbone.$.param(settings.data);
// settings.data is 'id=1&foo=test'
}
});
oldSync.apply(this, arguments);
}
});
var model = new SomeModel();
model.save();
Actually we can create a mixin! :)