Inserting data into an array - do not show numbers in json_encode - php

Question

I have this array $fields which is 2D. It's not a standard class and fetched from database. What I need to do is: Insert data into another array and give results like this (JSON encoded):
"fields": {
"0": [{
"field": "text",
"name": "link",
"label": "Link",
"required": true,
"type": "string"
}, {
"field": "xx",
"name": "xx",
"label": "xx",
"required": xx,
"type": "xx"
}],
"1": {
{
"field": "xx",
"name": "xx",
"label": "xx"
},
{
"field": "xx",
"name": "xx",
"label": "xx"
}
}
}
What I get is:
"fields": {
"0": [{
"field": "xx",
"name": "xx",
"label": "xx",
"required": xx,
"type": "xx"
}, {
"field": "xx",
"name": "xx",
"label": "xx",
"required": true,
"type": "xx"
}],
"1": {
"2": {
"field": "xx",
"name": "xx",
"label": "xx"
},
"3": {
"field": "xx",
"name": "xx",
"label": "xx"
},
}
}
Now I need to insert data to $f array and then $f array into array $r. To print like this "1": { or "0": { I use this:
$r = array(
'f' => (object) $f
);
The PHP code:
foreach($fields AS $c => $field) {
$f[$field['id']][$c] = array(
"field" => $field['field'],
"name" => $field['name'],
"label" => $field['label'],
);
if($field['required'] == "1") {
$f[$field['id']][$c]['required'] = true;
}
}
The issue mainly is $c thing, if I just do [] instead of [$c], it makes another array. I use the JSON encoded in JavaScript code and both the JSON encoded result works but I need the first one.

Answer 1

Your first JSON output is invalid. I hope it's just a typo from copying it into the question.
"1": {
{
should be "1": [ {.
If that's the case you can simply renumber the arrays after your code:
foreach($f as &$ff) $ff = array_values($ff);
unset($ff);
Or if you don't know or like references:
foreach($f as $key => $ff) $f[$key] = array_values($ff);
Then json_encode should create the output you want. (PHP arrays result in JSON arrays if the keys are numeric, start from 0, and have no holes; otherwise they will be encoded as JSON objects)
If you want to avoid another loop you could use:
foreach($fields AS $field) {
$f[$field['id']][] = array(
"field" => $field['field'],
"name" => $field['name'],
"label" => $field['label'],
);
//hacky way to get the key of the array just created
$c = count($f[$field['id']) - 1;
if($field['required'] == "1") {
$f[$field['id']][$c]['required'] = true;
}
}
Or create the array first and insert it in the end (a little cleaner imo):
foreach($fields => $field) {
$tmp = array(
"field" => $field['field'],
"name" => $field['name'],
"label" => $field['label'],
);
if($field['required'] == "1") {
$tmp['required'] = true;
}
$f[$field['id']][] = $tmp;
}