This plugin attempts to make working with querystrings easier. The primary function exposed is $.querystring, which handles both parsing & serialization (depending on the type of argument passed in). A $.fn.querystring method is also provided, which makes getting & setting the querystring of <a> elements more convenient.

Currently only the simplest cases work, but the goal is to support nested objects and arrays. Please refer to the test suite for more info.

Basic usage

Objects can be serialized to a querystring fragment:

$.querystring({name: "John", age:42}); // "name=John&age=42"

Conversely, querystring fragments can be parsed back into objects:

$.querystring("name=John&age=42"); // {name: "John", age:42}

Element methods

You can access an element's querystring directly:

// Markup: <a href="/search?terms=bicycles">Search for bikes!</a>
$('a').querystring(); // {terms: 'bicycles'}

and modify it, too:

$('a').querystring({perPage: 10});
// <a href="/search?terms=bicycles&perPage=10">Search for bikes!</a>

You'll notice the new parameter was merged into the existing querystring. You can optionally pass a second argument (boolean) indicating if the existing querystring should be cleared:

$('a').querystring({foo: 'bar'}, true);
// <a href="/search?foo=bar">Search for bikes!</a>

You can also use this to remove the querystring:

$('a').querystring({}, true);

Right now only <a> tags are supported, but support for <form> tags is planned.

Syntax

The syntax for objects and arrays is similar to that of Rack. For example, an object like this:

{person: {name: "Johnny"}}

equates to a string like this:

"person[name]=Johnny"

Arrays are similar:

{drinks: ["Whisky", "Beer", "Wine"]}

equates to:

"drinks[]=Whisky&drinks[]=Beer&drinks[]=Wine"

Tests & Contributing

Testing is done with QUnit. Have a look at tests/tests.js to learn more about the intended API. Running the tests (ie, opening tests/index.html in your browser) will give you an idea of which features remain to be implemented & clarified.

I would love help with this plugin, so please fork & submit pull requests. Here's an immediate hit-list of things to implement:

• Parsing & serialization of nested objects & arrays
• Coercion to native types (ex: Number, Boolean)
• Handling of blank/empty values