Adds nested param serialization; Closes #4201 (by merbjedi)

src/ajax.js

@@ -588,23 +588,28 @@ jQuery.extend({
 		// of form elements
 		if ( jQuery.isArray(a) || a.jquery ) {
 			// Serialize the form elements
-			jQuery.each( a, function(){
+			jQuery.each( a, function() {
 				add( this.name, this.value );
 			});
-
-		// Otherwise, assume that it's an object of key/value pairs
 		} else {
-			// Serialize the key/values
-			for ( var j in a ) {
-				// If the value is an array then the key names need to be repeated
-				if ( jQuery.isArray(a[j]) ) {
-					jQuery.each( a[j], function(){
-						add( j, this );
-					});
+			// Recursively encode parameters from object, 
+			// building a prefix path as we go down
+			function buildParams(obj, prefix)
+			{
+				if ( jQuery.isArray(obj) ) {
+					for ( var i = 0, length = obj.length; i < length; i++ ) {
+						buildParams( obj[i], prefix );
+					};
+				} else if( typeof(obj) == "object" ) {
+					for ( var j in obj ) {
+						var postfix = ((j.indexOf("[]") > 0) ? "[]" : ""); // move any brackets to the end
+						buildParams(obj[j], (prefix ? (prefix+"["+j.replace("[]", "")+"]"+postfix) : j) );
+					}
 				} else {
-					add( j, jQuery.isFunction(a[j]) ? a[j]() : a[j] );
+					add( prefix, jQuery.isFunction(obj) ? obj() : obj );
 				}
 			}
+			buildParams(a);
 		}
 
 		// Return the resulting serialization

test/unit/ajax.js

@@ -213,18 +213,31 @@ test("serialize()", function() {
 });
 
 test("jQuery.param()", function() {
-	expect(4);
+	expect(8);
 	var params = {foo:"bar", baz:42, quux:"All your base are belong to us"};
 	equals( jQuery.param(params), "foo=bar&baz=42&quux=All+your+base+are+belong+to+us", "simple" );
 
 	params = {someName: [1, 2, 3], regularThing: "blah" };
 	equals( jQuery.param(params), "someName=1&someName=2&someName=3&regularThing=blah", "with array" );
 
+	params = {foo: ['a', 'b', 'c']};
+	equals( jQuery.param(params), "foo=a&foo=b&foo=c", "with array of strings" );
+
 	params = {"foo[]":["baz", 42, "All your base are belong to us"]};
 	equals( jQuery.param(params), "foo%5B%5D=baz&foo%5B%5D=42&foo%5B%5D=All+your+base+are+belong+to+us", "more array" );
 
 	params = {"foo[bar]":"baz", "foo[beep]":42, "foo[quux]":"All your base are belong to us"};
 	equals( jQuery.param(params), "foo%5Bbar%5D=baz&foo%5Bbeep%5D=42&foo%5Bquux%5D=All+your+base+are+belong+to+us", "even more arrays" );
+
+	params = {foo: {bar: "baz", beep: 42, quux: "All your base are belong to us"}};
+	equals( jQuery.param(params), "foo%5Bbar%5D=baz&foo%5Bbeep%5D=42&foo%5Bquux%5D=All+your+base+are+belong+to+us", "nested object" );
+
+	params = {foo: {"bar[]": [1,2,3]}};
+	equals( jQuery.param(params), "foo%5Bbar%5D%5B%5D=1&foo%5Bbar%5D%5B%5D=2&foo%5Bbar%5D%5B%5D=3", "nested array");
+
+	params = {foo: [{bar: "baz", beep: 42}, {bar: "baz2", beep: 43}]};
+	equals( jQuery.param(params), "foo%5Bbar%5D=baz&foo%5Bbeep%5D=42&foo%5Bbar%5D=baz2&foo%5Bbeep%5D=43", "nested array of objects" );
+
 });
 
 test("synchronous request", function() {