serializeObject function

serializeObject

$.fn.serializeObject = function () {
    var self = this,
        json = {},
        push_counters = {},
        patterns = {
            "validate": /^[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9_]*(?:\[(?:\d*|[a-zA-Z0-9_]+)\])*$/,
            "key": /[a-zA-Z0-9_]+|(?=\[\])/g,
            "push": /^$/,
            "fixed": /^\d+$/,
            "named": /^[a-zA-Z0-9_]+$/
        };
    this.build = function (base, key, value) {
        base[key] = value;
        return base;
    };
    this.push_counter = function (key) {
        if (push_counters[key] === undefined) {
            push_counters[key] = 0;
        }
        return push_counters[key]++;
    };
    $.each($(this).serializeArray(), function () {
        // skip invalid keys
        if (!patterns.validate.test(this.name)) {
            return;
        }
        var k,
            keys = this.name.match(patterns.key),
            merge = this.value,
            reverse_key = this.name;
        while ((k = keys.pop()) !== undefined) {
            // adjust reverse_key
            reverse_key = reverse_key.replace(new RegExp("\\[" + k + "\\]$"), '');
            // push
            if (k.match(patterns.push)) {
                merge = self.build([], self.push_counter(reverse_key), merge);
            }
            // fixed
            else if (k.match(patterns.fixed)) {
                merge = self.build([], k, merge);
            }
            // named
            else if (k.match(patterns.named)) {
                merge = self.build({}, k, merge);
            }
        }
        json = $.extend(true, json, merge);
    });
    return json;
};