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How to pass an array of objects through a query string according to REST?

What is the best practice to pass an array of objects throught query string in REST style?
For example, the array:
examples[] = [
{
name: "foo",
value: "1"
},
{
name: "bar",
value: "2"
}
]
I thought about it:
/items?examples[0][name]=foo&examples[0][value]=1&examples[1}[name]=bar&examples[1][value]=2
Are there other ways to do this?
Upd:
I need readable URL to show it to the user in the address field. It should display state of some filters in the table, I'm not sending it to the backend.

Since you're parsing this manually in JS, you could keep the structure you have and just write a parsing function
var items = {};
location.search.split("?")[1].split("&").map((q) => {
var [token, value] = q.split("="),
[idx, key] = /\[([0-9+])\]\[(\w+)\]/g.exec(token).slice(1, 3);
if (!items[idx]){
items[idx] = {};
}
items[idx][key] = value;
})
This will yield you something with a structure like
{
"0": {
"key1": "data"
"key2": "data:
},
"1": {
"key1": "data"
"key2": "data"
}
}
If you need it to end up an array, it would be pretty easy to convert, but keeping it as an object with numeric strings for keys will prevent an error if it's not sequential.
Also, note there's no error checking or anything here, so if you're going to have query string params that aren't in that format, you'll want to test for that and handle them differently.

You shouldn't take care about how pass data for a backend, Angular do it for you.
About your example, you probably want to update or save several item. So it's not into the url that you will pass your data but into the Request Body :
this.httpService.post(yourUrl, examples, yourHttpOptions).subscribe( (response) => {
// you manage your response data
});

REST does not care how you encode information into your identifiers. You can use any scheme you want, so long as it is consistent with the production rules defined by RFC 3986.
REST cares a little bit about how you share information about creating URI, in the sense that that information should be shared in some readily standardizable form, like an HTML form, or a URI Template.
We don't, to my knowledge, have a "readily standardizable form" that describes how to transform a json array to a query string.
But... REST does allow code on demand; embedding, for example, a bunch of java script into a resource where that javascript knows how to encode the json into the URI... that is in bounds, so long as you have the code on demand itself referenced in a readily standardizable way (like we have with HTML and script tags).
In practice? urlencode the json representation and put it onto the query string directly. That will get you through until you start to discover the real requirements that your URI design needs to support (requirements like: operators needing to be able to understand the access logs).

ionic 2 get data from malformed json

is there anyway i can get this malformed json format which is odd i have no control over this json manually so i need to get this data and manipulate it with rxjs observable from http get
{
"firstNm": "Ronald",
"lastNm": "Mandez",
"avatarImage": "https://randomuser.me/api/portraits/men/74.jpg"
}
{
"firstNm": "Ronald",
"lastNm": "Mandez",
"avatarImage": "https://randomuser.me/api/portraits/men/74.jpg"
{
"firstNm": "Ronald",
"lastNm": "Mandez",
"avatarImage": "https://randomuser.me/api/portraits/men/74.jpg"
}

I tried with your JSON in the console and this seems to work. In the map function I've used you can probably implement more generic replacement methods to alter the strings, but it works for this example.
function fixBadJSON(response){
let badJSON = JSON.stringify(response); // added this edit in case you don't know how to get the response to a string
let arr = badJSON.split('}\n'); // Looks like the JSON elements are split by linefeeds preceded by closing bracket, make into arr length of 3
let fixedArr = arr.map((item)=>{ // map the array to another, replace the comma at the end of the avatarImage key. elements in array should be proper JSON
if(item[item.length] != '}') item += '}'; //put the brackets back at thend of the string if they got taken out in the split, probably a better way to handle this logic with regex etc
return item.replace('jpg",','jpg"')
});
let parsedJSON = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(fixedArr));
return parsedJSON
}
Take the JSON data you've posted up there and copy it to a variable as a string and test the function, it will return a properly formatted array of JSON data.
Call that when you get a response from your service to transform the data. As far as the observable chains and any async issues you might be seeing those are separate things. This function is just designed to convert your malformed JSON.

How is JSON related to serialization?

What is serialization?
Serialization is the process of converting the object into stream of bytes to send it over a network or store it in a file in such a way that the object can be reconstructed again.
What is JSON?
JSON is the data interchange format, having a fixed structure. When de-serialized it return the Javascript object.
I did some Googling but can't find the how they are related? They are often mentioned together. I need to know what is going on under the hood when we say that we need to serialize the data in JSON.

JSON is basically structured text.
One example would be a client-server architecture, such as web browser - server communication is. The data from the server can be serialized from native format to JSON (text) and transferred through the network (stream of bytes) to the client (web browser). When the data gets to the client (web browser), it is deserialized to a Javascript object and handled (maybe something is displayed to the user or the UI manipulated - non-essential).
A Java example
Let's say we've a simple class in our server application, which is written in Java:
class Person {
String name;
int age;
}
and we've an instance of this class:
Person person = new Person();
person.name = "John";
person.age = 32;
We've chosen to use JSON as the data format in server-to-client communications. Converting our instance of a person to JSON looks like this:
String json = "{\"person\": {\"name\": \"John\", \"age\": 32} }";
Now we just write this String to HTTP response, from where the client reads it - to a string. The string is then deserialized to a Javascript object. Deserialization could look like this (more about JSON.parse at MDN / JSON.parse):
/* We get responseText by AJAX and it looks exactly the same that we sent from our web
server - IT IS TEXT, the variable 'json' contents in our Java application. */
var responseText = "..."
var data = JSON.parse( responseText ); // JSON.parse is supported by modern browsers
Data looks something like this if written directly as a Javascript object:
data = {
person: {
name: john,
age: 32
}
};
So, we started in the server side from a Java-object. We serialized the Java-object to a JSON-string and sent it through the network to the client. The client deserialized the JSON-string to a Javascript-object (which can be properly dealt with in language-specific way).

JSON is a format that allows you to represent your objects as a string / text, which can then be stored, sent etc.
Another example would be XML, which is also often used for serialization.
Example:
Object
var Person = new Object();
Person.FirstName = "Foo";
Person.LastName = "Foo";
Person.Age = 24;
JSON example serialization
{
Person:
{
FirstName: "Foo",
LastName: "Bar",
Age: 42
}
}
XML example serialization
<Person>
<FirstName>Foo</FirstName>
<LastName>Bar</LastName>
<Age>42</Age>
</Person>
Since you asked "what is going on under the hood": Simply explained, the serialization algorithm would iterate all properties of the object and store their names and values in a string of the requested format (JSON, XML, ...)

JSON represent collections of key/value pairs. JSON Parsers (like JSON.parse, json_decode) will map this representation to an appropriate data structure that reflects these collections. JSON Serializers (like JSON.stringify, json_encode) do the inverse, they take a data structure and map it to JSON.
For example in PHP:
$obj['a'] = 'b'; //Associative Array
$obj['c'] = 'd';
Its JSON representation would be:
'{
"a" : "b",
"c" : "d"
}'
Keys and values of the respective data structure (in this case an associative array).
In Javascript:
var obj = {
a : 'b',
c : 'd'
}
This is a Javascript object, when serialized it maps to the same JSON:
'{
"a" : "b",
"c" : "d"
}'
JSON describes a precise string format, which is why I've marked my JSON in between ' '. A string representation of your data structures can be very useful for many things, like sending them as a message.

What String format is acceptable to append to this JSON output?

I have an existing "blackbox" web service. I need to append a session ID to the end of that output so that Javascript and similar clients can resume the stateful session.
Given the output below, what is the correct syntax to append or prepend an arbitrary GUID, so that it can be properly deserialized as valid JSON?
Note This data below is perfect. If I can somehow add a "removable" bit of information, using JSON.NET the string GUID, that would be ideal.
Output from REST call
"{\"sa\":[\"BHDQ9TLPeaeVuSSgXv9bsOIVFUWbOpivMKhGki7YPLzIXEyHuxRAZhDgts2sEcBQpLBuKJZCtcmSlzWZ9iK0AAA=\",\"BAhyo7T0Wq1WBLXnyN4vo1L94rWLhCCv4DqROi+p9XHO6UeS0Gw6xh1JAKOtXBU2fA432LkNqng8cUt1eAX0bqs=\",\"BGFmyTreWY5pICAcf3itoqbfhs5brOmIDLNF3V7p7slPYdCSVhwWUT5mHD6Lb5kNi\/Qy9tracNUtVgvo3f51FrI=\",\"BMV7RIwoz+LdFgD2fq7UZ7E88KFq\/03381NDYFIKYgUKxEzuXoj6hZfSB0slX5fdaL44Lf6i\/UjDzPQt2XUG8NE=\",\"BL8BnU5WvFn7vIlKi14dWsqykNf1\/nmE55YXFGwLx9Qu3VvDblULt\/U8CXPI1vD8+wMXCRnkunXqxlsFqgghf8w=\"],\"sb\":[\"BInTtgTAn\/zkmrkporhV5DvPZRq5YWm8e\/m02oq55UfY3RxIhOplJgwLjgKMHKYDthYEBcqNNNuVbbWnbtKVAqA=\",\"BJbh5y95wHGjmAPDFNqgewnBxtqVke0sloDD2S3IdrWZ95JfP77rtXZ4lTG8g9PuTLJbl4exZUnM16260WxJ9wU=\",\"BKevE9i2J8CicXHX3elCoQPEpTOmJyGOlBskIbFMFGQFhJ5TD7N1221rhhH9HY6DsfRojmefozsQYzo7Pokp+Hg=\",\"BJbVTRyh8WwCxfR7jRXnran4td7k5+vEfM+HWxeAibneSjdMRQ1Fg6QxKLu+Zu1aPdXqD8M29kABOTAiYopVuQE=\",\"BFv3alDqjo7ckdB2vuxJ15Gur1xsgATjLe9drt\/XU9AkbN+AELCv+mF1Xy8+83L2A1p8aGxF4b7dsrMed27u1j4=\"],\"sz\":\"BF1IiqMz0KmT4gZN6euJquWFt2UmVjyOEdaX0jH8uQMAPG8DBoyneT2PJ9NQTE2xBOP9TtAb1d2O+iCojFqzkvI=\"}"
The output above comes from Chrome. I'm not sure if Chrome adds additional quotes, etc but when I debug System.String on the server, I see the same thing being sent to the WCF service.
The end-usage for this will be a Chrome and Firefox plug in

Well if I am correctly understanding:
You get JSON from a blackbox service. It contains some properties and values. You want to add a new property with some GUID and send it to browser.
If this is correct, try following:
var json=<WHAT YOU GET FROM SERVICE>;
var converter = new ExpandoObjectConverter();
dynamic obj = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<ExpandoObject>(json, converter);
obj.sid="this is the new session id"; //ADD NEW PROPERTY
var j=JsonConvert.SerializeObject(obj); //GET BACK JSON STRING WITH NEW PROPERTY
Of if you just want to add session id on client side (inside your plugin) the utilize JSON2 javascript library and use following code (as also suggested by Josh in comments):
var o = JSON.parse(<REST OUTPUT>);
o.sid = <YOUR SESSION ID>;
To convert back to JSON string.
var jsn = JSON.stringify(o);

There is no way to modify that particular response without breaking existing clients. If you can break existing clients, or if you are working with clients that you control, you could wrap the object in another object, setting two keys: GUID and data. For example:
var json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(new {
data = foo,
GUID = bar,
});
Where bar is the GUID that you want to use, and foo is one of two things:
The JSON string from the response. This will result in the final object looking like so:
{
data: "{\"sa\":[\"BHDQ9TLPeaeVuSSgXv9bsOIVFUWbOpivMKhGki7YPLzIXEyHuxRAZhDgts2sEcBQpLBuKJZCtcmSlzWZ9iK0AAA=\",\"BAhyo7T0Wq1WBLXnyN4vo1L94rWLhCCv4DqROi+p9XHO6UeS0Gw6xh1JAKOtXBU2fA432LkNqng8cUt1eAX0bqs=\",\"BGFmyTreWY5pICAcf3itoqbfhs5brOmIDLNF3V7p7slPYdCSVhwWUT5mHD6Lb5kNi\/Qy9tracNUtVgvo3f51FrI=\",\"BMV7RIwoz+LdFgD2fq7UZ7E88KFq\/03381NDYFIKYgUKxEzuXoj6hZfSB0slX5fdaL44Lf6i\/UjDzPQt2XUG8NE=\",\"BL8BnU5WvFn7vIlKi14dWsqykNf1\/nmE55YXFGwLx9Qu3VvDblULt\/U8CXPI1vD8+wMXCRnkunXqxlsFqgghf8w=\"],\"sb\":[\"BInTtgTAn\/zkmrkporhV5DvPZRq5YWm8e\/m02oq55UfY3RxIhOplJgwLjgKMHKYDthYEBcqNNNuVbbWnbtKVAqA=\",\"BJbh5y95wHGjmAPDFNqgewnBxtqVke0sloDD2S3IdrWZ95JfP77rtXZ4lTG8g9PuTLJbl4exZUnM16260WxJ9wU=\",\"BKevE9i2J8CicXHX3elCoQPEpTOmJyGOlBskIbFMFGQFhJ5TD7N1221rhhH9HY6DsfRojmefozsQYzo7Pokp+Hg=\",\"BJbVTRyh8WwCxfR7jRXnran4td7k5+vEfM+HWxeAibneSjdMRQ1Fg6QxKLu+Zu1aPdXqD8M29kABOTAiYopVuQE=\",\"BFv3alDqjo7ckdB2vuxJ15Gur1xsgATjLe9drt\/XU9AkbN+AELCv+mF1Xy8+83L2A1p8aGxF4b7dsrMed27u1j4=\"],\"sz\":\"BF1IiqMz0KmT4gZN6euJquWFt2UmVjyOEdaX0jH8uQMAPG8DBoyneT2PJ9NQTE2xBOP9TtAb1d2O+iCojFqzkvI=\"}",
guid: "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
}
And you would get at the data through two calls to JSON.parse (or the equivalent).
The deserialized object from the JSON response. This will result in the final object looking like so (most data removed for brevity sake):
{
data: {
sa: [],
sb: [],
sz: ""
},
guid: "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
}
And you would access data through response.data.
Why any modification can break existing clients
Where the current response is an object, there are only a few ways to modify it:
Injecting a key into the object. This assumes that no client uses Object.keys() or in any way iterates the key set (e.g. for (k in obj)). While this may be true, this is an assumption.
Adding another object to the end: }, {. Doing so would require that the response be transformed into an array:
[{}, {}]
This would break any client that is assumes the response is an object.
Wrapping the current response in a surrounding object (as proposed above). This as well breaks any clients that assumes a certain structure for the response.
{data:{}, guid: ""}

Storing arrays in javascript for javascript

I've seen lots of articles on how to serialise arrays from javascript to send to PHP files which the PHP file will then deserialise back into an array, etc...
I have a large-ish nested associative array in my javascript which I need to save to a string and at a later date retrieve and convert back into a string in javascript. No other program will ever touch this. It may be handy if the serialised data is human-readable but it is absolutely not a requirement.
There is an intermediate PHP file but it's only 4 lines long: all it does is save the string to a file and send it back when requested. I'm not interested in parsing the array in PHP.
What is the fastest and simplest way to convert a multi-nested associative array in javascript to a string and back again?

JSON is a subset of the JavaScript language that is widely used as a serialization format, both for JavaScript and increasingly for other languages as well. It's human-readable, except that most implementations remove optional whitespace, which makes it a bit more difficult.
Modern browsers have JSON support out-of-the-box, for older ones you will need to include a library like json2.js.
To serialize, you use the JSON.stringify method.
var myObject = {a: 2, b: 3, c: [1, 2, 3]};
var serialized = JSON.stringify(myObject);
// serialized == "{"a":2,"b":3,"c":[1,2,3]}"
To unserialize, you use the JSON.parse method.
var recovered = JSON.parse(serialized);
Well, I have constructed my array like: var data = new Array(); data["John"] = "John Smith";
Ah, this is a problem. A JavaScript Array isn't meant to be used as an associative array, it's meant as a normal zero-indexed non-associative array. You can assign properties (key/value pairs) to any JavaScript object, which is why your code is working, but the fact thay your object is an Array is probably going to cause problems. If you just create a new Object() instead things should work better.

You'll want to serialize your array into JSON:
serialized = JSON.stringify(myobject)
To get it back
myobject = JSON.parse(serialized)
http://www.json.org/js.html

var someArray = [];
someArray.push({someObjectProperty: 'someValue' });
someArray.push({someObjectProperty: 'someValue2' });
console.log(someArray);
var stringVersion = JSON.stringify(someArray);//You can save the string version anywhere...
console.log(stringVersion);
var someNewArray = JSON.parse(stringVersion);
console.log(someNewArray);

Everyone has explained this well on the Javascript side, but this is how it happens on the PHP side:
<?php
$arr = Array(1, 2, 3, 'a', 'b', 'c'); // an array in PHP
echo json_encode($arr); // output the array as JSON: [1,2,3,'a','b','c']
?>
<?php
$json = "[1,2,3,'a','b','c']"; // a JSON string to be parsed by PHP
$arr = json_decode($json); // this is our original array in PHP again
?>