Hello all,
Please consider the following snippet of code, which transparently
intercepts all Ajax requests, detects whether the data being POSTed is
a JSON object, and based on that, switches the content type to
"application/json", and serializes the data to a string:
$(document).ready(function() {
$._ajax = $.ajax;
$.ajax = function(s) {
if (s.data && s.type == 'POST') {
if (typeof s.data == 'object') {
JSON.stringify(s.data);
s.contentType = 'application/json';
}
}
return $._ajax(s);
};
});
What I'm trying to figure out is how to achieve this (properly)
without having to overwrite a core jQuery method, or if indeed there
is a way.
In an effort to save everyone time, here are the Wrong Answers:
(1) Write my own custom method. This is wrong, because it breaks the
inheritance pretty much every Ajax-related method jQuery has. The goal
of this exercise should be associated with words like "seamless" and
"transparent". This isn't.
(2) Use beforeSend(). This does not work, because the Content-Type
header has already been set, and amazingly, the XHR object offers no
facility for removing or replacing headers, only appending.
(3) Use $.ajaxSetup, and set contentType: "application/json" across
the board. This simply reverses the problem by requiring me to
specify contentType any time I *don't* want to use JSON in an Ajax
request. Incidentally, this also breaks $.post, since it provides no
way to specify the contentType (which I suppose would normally be
redundant anyway).
(4) Use ajaxStart(). Again, not an option, since it is global (which
means any requests fired off in parallel will result in at least one
not being intercepted). Also, it doesn't have access to the XHR
object, which puts a bit of a damper on things.
If a solution within the required parameters does not exist, is this
something that people have run into before? Would it be worth kicking
up the chain? Handling JSON data transparently seems like an obvious
thing to want to do, and thus far I've been a little taken aback at
how many issues I've run into.
Thanks for your time and consideration.
