Ajax data element is array causing Python Unexpected query string parameters - ajax

Question

I have an Ajax call to a backend Python program with this calling sequence:
var dataArray = {
"company_id":company_id,
"plan_id":plan_id,
"demographics_to_save":demographics_to_save,
"takeup":takeup,
"number_of_employees_with_dependents":total_deps,
"percentMale":male_pct / 100,
"percentEmployeesWithDependents":deps_pct / 100
};
$.ajax({
url: "http://ec2.xx.xx.xx.compute-1.amazonaws.com:8080/save_census_manual",
dataType: 'json',
async: false,
data: dataArray,
success: function(data) {
company_id = data.company_id;
plan_id = data.plan_id;
} // success
});
The variable: demographics_to_save is a nested array that is structured as seen in the Chrome Dev Tools Console:
dataArray
{company_id: 84, plan_id: 61, demographics_to_save: Array(10), takeup: "0.68", number_of_employees_with_dependents: 2, …}company_id: 84demographics_to_save: Array(10)0: Array(4)0: 21: 12: 13: 1length: 4__proto__: Array(0)1: (4) [0, 0, 0, 0]0: 01: 02: 03: 0length: 4__proto__: Array(0)2: (4) [0, 0, 0, 0]3: (4) [0, 0, 0, 0]4: (4) [0, 0, 0, 0]5: (4) [0, 0, 0, 0]6: (4) [0, 0, 0, 0]7: (4) [0, 0, 0, 0]0: 01: 02: 03: 0length: 4__proto__: Array(0)8: (4) [0, 0, 0, 0]9: (4) [0, 0, 0, 0]length: 10__proto__: Array(0)number_of_employees_with_dependents: 2percentEmployeesWithDependents: 0.67percentMale: 0.67plan_id: 61takeup: "0.68"proto: Object
When the Ajax call is invoked, the Python responds with:
404 Not Found
Unexpected query string parameters: demographics_to_save[3][], demographics_to_save[1][], demographics_to_save[2][], demographics_to_save[7][], demographics_to_save[8][], demographics_to_save[6][], demographics_to_save[0][], demographics_to_save[9][], demographics_to_save[5][], demographics_to_save[4][]
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.5/dist-packages/cherrypy/_cpdispatch.py", line 60, in call
return self.callable(*self.args, **self.kwargs)
TypeError: save_census_manual() got an unexpected keyword argument 'demographics_to_save[2][]'
During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.5/dist-packages/cherrypy/_cprequest.py", line 631, in respond
self._do_respond(path_info)
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.5/dist-packages/cherrypy/_cprequest.py", line 690, in _do_respond
response.body = self.handler()
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.5/dist-packages/cherrypy/lib/encoding.py", line 221, in call
self.body = self.oldhandler(*args, **kwargs)
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.5/dist-packages/cherrypy/_cpdispatch.py", line 66, in call
raise sys.exc_info()[1]
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.5/dist-packages/cherrypy/_cpdispatch.py", line 64, in call
test_callable_spec(self.callable, self.args, self.kwargs)
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.5/dist-packages/cherrypy/_cpdispatch.py", line 197, in test_callable_spec
raise cherrypy.HTTPError(404, message=message)
cherrypy._cperror.HTTPError: (404, 'Unexpected query string parameters: demographics_to_save[3][], demographics_to_save[1][], demographics_to_save[2][], demographics_to_save[7][], demographics_to_save[8][], demographics_to_save[6][], demographics_to_save[0][], demographics_to_save[9][], demographics_to_save[5][], demographics_to_save[4][]')
The Python code is a simple function
def save_census_manual(company_id,plan_id,demographics_to_save,takeup,number_of_employees_with_dependents,percentMale,percentEmployeesWithDependents):
some code
return
I'd like to know why all the unexpected query string parameter errors are occurring (see above).
I am using a Python Web Development Framework - CherryPy
When Cherrypy creates the call to the "offending" function, the call looks like this:
http://ec2-xx-xx-xx-xx.compute-1.amazonaws.com:8080/save_census_manual?company_id=84&plan_id=61&demographics_to_save=%5B0%5D%5B%5D=2&demographics_to_save%5B0%5D%5B%5D=1&demographics_to_save%5B0%5D%5B%5D=1&demographics_to_save%5B0%5D%5B%5D=1&demographics_to_save%5B1%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B1%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B1%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B1%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B2%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B2%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B2%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B2%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B3%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B3%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B3%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B3%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B4%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B4%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B4%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B4%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B5%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B5%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B5%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B5%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B6%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B6%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B6%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B6%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B7%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B7%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B7%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B7%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B8%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B8%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B8%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B8%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B9%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B9%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B9%5D%5B%5D=0&demographics_to_save%5B9%5D%5B%5D=0&takeup=0.68&number_of_employees_with_dependents=2&percentMale=67&percentEmployeesWithDependents=67

Answer 1

Got around the issue by calling the function (via Ajax) with a change:
"demographics_to_save":JSON.stringify(demographics_to_save),
...then in the backend code (Python),
demographics_to_save = json.loads(demographics_to_save)