Remember

This jQuery plugin lets you easily track changes made to a form, or any element containing fields.

Where to find this plugin:

• jQuery Plugins
• GitHub

Usage

To use, select any elements containing form fields and call the remember() method. This method returns a jQuery object, so you can chain method calls.

$('form, .field-container').remember();
// Returns any elements selected, so you can call more methods afterwards on the same line.

After changes are made to any fields in the selected elements, you can use hasChanges to check whether or not changes were made. This method works on multiple elements.

$('form, .field-container').remember('hasChanges');
// Returns true or false

Additionally, changes returns an array of changes. Each element in the array is an object, with name, value, and element properties. This method also works on multiple elements.

$('form, .field-container').remember('changes');
// Returns something like:
// [{name: 'fieldname', value: 'fieldvalue', element: jquery_object}]

Once changes have been made, you may want to use save to reset the old data. save works on multiple elements, too. This returns a jQuery object.

$('form, .field-container').remember('save');
// Now the hasChanges method will return false

You might want to restore the last saved state of the fields you are remembering. To do this, use the restore method. It works on multiple elements and returns a jQuery object.

$('form, .field-container').remember('restore);
// All remembered field elements have been reset to their last saved values

Remember has its own serialize method which it uses in place of jQuery's built-in serialize method. This is because the jQuery method only works with forms. Remember exposes its serialize method so you can use it yourself. If no second argument is supplied, a param string is returned. If the second argument is true, an object is returned. You can use $.param() to turn this object into a param string.

This method only works on the first element supplied.

$('.field-container').remember('serialize');

If you want to see the last saved changes, use last. It only works on the first element supplied. If you pass it a second argument with a value of true, an object is returned. Otherwise, a param string is returned.

$('.field-container').remember('last');

If you are done with this functionality, use the forget method. This returns a jQuery object.

$('form, .field-container').remember('forget');
// Data associated with this plugin has been forgotten.

Additionally, there is a utility method called objectFromParams accessible through $.remember.objectFromParams. This method takes a param string ("name=value&name2=value2") and turns it into an object ({name: 'value', name2: 'value2'}).

And that's all. Enjoy!

Changelog

1.1.1

• Fixed bugs which prevented checkboxes and radio buttons from being correctly serialized and restored
• The restore function no longer breaks on missing input fields

1.1.0

• Renamed reset to save.
• Added restore, serialize, and last methods.
• Exposed objectFromParams utility method through $.remember.objectFromParams.
• More cowbell.

1.0.1

• Fixed a bug that prevented changes from being remembered on some field types (like textareas or select menus).
• Fixed a bug that kept the "changes" method from returning fields when fields were removed (or modified in such a way so that they disappeared from the string generated during serialization).

1.0.0

• Initial release

License

Copyright (c) 2010 Andrew Smith.

Dual licensed under the MIT and GPL licenses:

• http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php
• http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html