json file malformed - how to find out where? - php

Question

I'm developing website using weatherapi. I intend to fetch weather using cityid which is in citylist.json file. Users wil enter city name, I was hoping to extract cityid from this json and use the cityid to fetch weather using api. But there is some error in json.
if (file_exists('citylist.json')) {
$cityArray = file_get_contents("citylist.json");
$cityAA = json_decode($cityArray,true);
switch (json_last_error()) {
case JSON_ERROR_NONE:
echo ' - No errors';
break;
case JSON_ERROR_DEPTH:
echo ' - Maximum stack depth exceeded';
break;
case JSON_ERROR_STATE_MISMATCH:
echo ' - Underflow or the modes mismatch';
break;
case JSON_ERROR_CTRL_CHAR:
echo ' - Unexpected control character found';
break;
case JSON_ERROR_SYNTAX:
echo ' - Syntax error, malformed JSON';
break;
case JSON_ERROR_UTF8:
echo ' - Malformed UTF-8 characters, possibly incorrectly encoded';
break;
default:
echo ' - Unknown error';
break;
}
print_r($cityAA);
}
The json is around 12mb. Here are first few lines
{
"_id": 14256,
"coord": {
"lon": 48.570728,
"lat": 34.790878
},
"country": "IR",
"geoname": {
"cl": "P",
"code": "PPL",
"parent": 132142
},
"langs": [{
"de": "Azad Shahr"
},
{
"fa": "آزادشهر"
}],
"name": "Azadshahr",
"stat": {
"level": 1.0,
"population": 514102
},
"stations": [{
"id": 7030,
"dist": 9,
"kf": 1
}],
"zoom": 10
}{
"_id": 18918,
"coord": {
"lon": 34.058331,
"lat": 35.012501
},
"country": "CY",
"geoname": {
"cl": "P",
"code": "PPL",
"parent": 146615
},
"langs": [{
"en": "Protaras"
},
{
"ru": "Протарас"
}],
"name": "Protaras",
"stat": {
"level": 1.0,
"population": 20230
},
"stations": [{
"id": 5448,
"dist": 42,
"kf": 1
}],
"zoom": 6
}
I've tried jsonlint but the file is too big I guess.
The var_dump suggests Syntax error, malformed JSON. I cannot post the image as i'm not allowed.
How can I find out where the json is malformed?

Answer 1

This site can help you: http://jsonlint.com/
In the example provided you can't just pass 2 objects like you did. You need to put it inside an array.
[obj,obj2]
Fixed:
[{
"_id": 14256,
"coord": {
"lon": 48.570728,
"lat": 34.790878
},
"country": "IR",
"geoname": {
"cl": "P",
"code": "PPL",
"parent": 132142
},
"langs": [{
"de": "Azad Shahr"
}, {
"fa": "آزادشهر"
}],
"name": "Azadshahr",
"stat": {
"level": 1.0,
"population": 514102
},
"stations": [{
"id": 7030,
"dist": 9,
"kf": 1
}],
"zoom": 10
}, {
"_id": 18918,
"coord": {
"lon": 34.058331,
"lat": 35.012501
},
"country": "CY",
"geoname": {
"cl": "P",
"code": "PPL",
"parent": 146615
},
"langs": [{
"en": "Protaras"
}, {
"ru": "Протарас"
}],
"name": "Protaras",
"stat": {
"level": 1.0,
"population": 20230
},
"stations": [{
"id": 5448,
"dist": 42,
"kf": 1
}],
"zoom": 6
}]

Answer 2

It looks like the file contains multiple JSON objects but not well integrated.
This is valid JSON:
{
"_id": 14256,
"coord": {
"lon": 48.570728,
"lat": 34.790878
},
"country": "IR",
"geoname": {
"cl": "P",
"code": "PPL",
"parent": 132142
},
"langs": [{
"de": "Azad Shahr"
},
{
"fa": "آزادشهر"
}],
"name": "Azadshahr",
"stat": {
"level": 1.0,
"population": 514102
},
"stations": [{
"id": 7030,
"dist": 9,
"kf": 1
}],
"zoom": 10
}
And this is too:
{
"_id": 18918,
"coord": {
"lon": 34.058331,
"lat": 35.012501
},
"country": "CY",
"geoname": {
"cl": "P",
"code": "PPL",
"parent": 146615
},
"langs": [{
"en": "Protaras"
},
{
"ru": "Протарас"
}],
"name": "Protaras",
"stat": {
"level": 1.0,
"population": 20230
},
"stations": [{
"id": 5448,
"dist": 42,
"kf": 1
}],
"zoom": 6
}
But how they are put together, it is not. That might be a problem of the JSON file imported or if you are generating it by yourself from the API.
A valid JSON would be formed like an array of those objects:
[{
"_id": 14256,
"coord": {
"lon": 48.570728,
"lat": 34.790878
},
"country": "IR",
"geoname": {
"cl": "P",
"code": "PPL",
"parent": 132142
},
"langs": [{
"de": "Azad Shahr"
}, {
"fa": "آزادشهر"
}],
"name": "Azadshahr",
"stat": {
"level": 1.0,
"population": 514102
},
"stations": [{
"id": 7030,
"dist": 9,
"kf": 1
}],
"zoom": 10
}, {
"_id": 18918,
"coord": {
"lon": 34.058331,
"lat": 35.012501
},
"country": "CY",
"geoname": {
"cl": "P",
"code": "PPL",
"parent": 146615
},
"langs": [{
"en": "Protaras"
}, {
"ru": "Протарас"
}],
"name": "Protaras",
"stat": {
"level": 1.0,
"population": 20230
},
"stations": [{
"id": 5448,
"dist": 42,
"kf": 1
}],
"zoom": 6
}]
PS: You can use http://jsonlint.com/ to check valid JSON.

Answer 3

I tried to convert the json file into an array of multiple json snippets using the below function
function json_split_objects($json){
$q = FALSE;
$len = strlen($json);
for($l=$c=$i=0;$i<$len;$i++)
{
$json[$i] == '"' && ($i>0?$json[$i-1]:'') != '\\' && $q = !$q;
if(!$q && in_array($json[$i], array(" ", "\r", "\n", "\t"))){continue;}
in_array($json[$i], array('{', '[')) && !$q && $l++;
in_array($json[$i], array('}', ']')) && !$q && $l--;
(isset($objects[$c]) && $objects[$c] .= $json[$i]) || $objects[$c] = $json[$i];
$c += ($l == 0);
}
return $objects;
}
if (file_exists('current_cities.json')) {
echo "here";
$cityJson = file_get_contents("current_cities.json");
$city_json_data_array = json_split_objects($cityJson);
But this did not work, below was the split array generated but it did not put comma(,) between the snippets.
Array
(
[0] => {"_id":14256,"coord":{"lon":48.570728,"lat":34.790878},"country":"IR","geoname":{"cl":"P","code":"PPL","parent":132142},"langs":[{"de":"Azad Shahr"},{"fa":"آزادشهر"}],"name":"Azadshahr","stat":{"level":1.0,"population":514102},"stations":[{"id":7030,"dist":9,"kf":1}],"zoom":10}
[1] => {"_id":18918,"coord":{"lon":34.058331,"lat":35.012501},"country":"CY","geoname":{"cl":"P","code":"PPL","parent":146615},"langs":[{"en":"Protaras"},{"ru":"Протарас"}],"name":"Protaras","stat":{"level":1.0,"population":20230},"stations":[{"id":5448,"dist":42,"kf":1}],"zoom":6}
[2] => {"_id":23814,"coord":{"lon":47.055302,"lat":34.383801},"country":"IR","geoname":{"cl":"P","code":"PPL","parent":128222},"langs":[{"fa":"کهریز"}],"name":"Kahriz","stat":{"level":1.0,"population":766706},"stations":[{"id":7022,"dist":10,"kf":1}],"zoom":7}
[3] => {"_id":24851,"coord":{"lon":47.9725,"lat":34.073399},"country":"IR","geoname":{"cl":"P","code":"PPL","parent":125605},"langs":[{"fa":"نور آباد"},{"link":"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nurabad%2C_Lorestan"},{"ru":"Нурабад"}],"name":"Nurabad","stat":{"level":1.0,"population":73528},"stations":[{"id":7022,"dist":80,"kf":1},{"id":7024,"dist":75,"kf":1},{"id":7073,"dist":49,"kf":1}],"zoom":9}
[4] => {"_id":32723,"coord":{"lon":52.309422,"lat":35.23455},"country":"IR","geoname":{"cl":"P","code":"PPL","parent":116401},"langs":[{"fa":"ايستگاه گرمسار"}],"name":"Istgah-e Garmsar","stat":{"level":1.0,"population":49491},"stations":[{"id":7036,"dist":99,"kf":1}],"zoom":8}
[5] => {"_id":32767,"coord":{"lon":51.56889,"lat":35.439442},"country":"IR","geoname":{"cl":"P","code":"PPL","parent":110791},"langs":[{"fa":"قرچك"}],"name":"Qarchak","stat":{"level":1.0,"population":251834},"stations":[{"id":7032,"dist":36,"kf":1},{"id":7074,"dist":48,"kf":1}],"zoom":9}
[6] => {"_id":41210,"coord":{"lon":49.195999,"lat":36.213001},"country":"IR","geoname":{"cl":"P","code":"PPL","parent":111452},"langs":[{"fa":"خرم درّه"}],"name":"Khorram Darreh","stat":{"level":1.0,"population":50528},"stations":[{"id":7033,"dist":76,"kf":1}],"zoom":12}
[7] => {"_id":50672,"coord":{"lon":44.893799,"lat":2.6185},"country":"SO","geoname":{"cl":"P","code":"PPL","parent":51966},"langs":[{"so":"Wanlaweyn"}],"name":"Wanlaweyn","stat":{"level":1.0,"population":22022},"zoom":9}
[8] => {"_id":52867,"coord":{"lon":44.529991,"lat":1.78784},"country":"SO","geoname":{"cl":"P","code":"PPLA2","parent":51966},"langs":[{"so":"Qoryooley"}],"name":"Qoryooley","stat":{"level":1.0,"population":51720},"zoom":8}
[9] => {"_id":53157,"coord":{"lon":49.872822,"lat":11.47197},"country":"SO","geoname":{"cl":"P","code":"PPL","parent":64661},"langs":[{"link":"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qandala"},{"so":"Qandala"}],"name":"Qandala","stat":{"level":1.0,"population":15923},"zoom":8}
[10] => {"_id":53654,"coord":{"lon":45.34375,"lat":2.03711},"country":"SO","geoname":{"cl":"P","code":"PPLC","parent":64833},"name":"Mogadishu","stat":{"level":1.0,"population":2587183},"zoom":1}
[11] => {"_id":54715,"coord":{"lon":42.544498,"lat":3.79376},"country":"SO","geoname":{"cl":"P","code":"PPL","parent":58802},"name":"Luuq","stat":{"level":1.0,"population":33820},"zoom":8}
[12] => {"_id":55671,"coord":{"lon":42.545361,"lat":-0.35817},"country":"SO","geoname":{"cl":"P","code":"PPLA","parent":56083},"langs":[{"de":"Kismaayo"},{"en":"Kismayo"},{"es":"Kismaayo"},{"fi":"Kismayo"},{"fr":"Kismaayo"},{"id":"Kismaayo"},{"ja":"キスマヨ"},{"link":"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kismayo"},{"nl":"Kismayo"},{"so":"Kismaayo"},{"sw":"Kismayu"}],"name":"Kismaayo","stat":{"level":1.0,"population":234852},"zoom":6}
[13] => {"_id":56166,"coord":{"lon":42.785351,"lat":0.48829},"country":"SO","geoname":{"cl":"P","code":"PPL","parent":56084},"langs":[{"link":"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jilib"},{"ru":"Джилиб"}],"name":"Jilib","stat":{"level":1.0,"population":43694},"zoom":9}
[14] => {"_id":56335,"coord":{"lon":45.500481,"lat":2.78087},"country":"SO","geoname":{"cl":"P","code":"PPLA","parent":51967},"langs":[{"de":"Giohar"},{"en":"Giohar"},{"link":"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jowhar"},{"so":"Jawhar"}],"name":"Jawhar","stat":{"level":1.0,"population":47086},"zoom":8}
[15] => {"_id":56399,"coord":{"lon":42.744968,"lat":0.06968},"country":"SO","geoname":{"cl":"P","code":"PPL","parent":56083},"langs":[{"de":"Jamaame"},{"en":"Jamaame"},{"link":"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamame"}],"name":"Jamaame","stat":{"level":1.0,"population":185270},"zoom":6}
I was thinking of fetching the "_id" using the $city variable which the user enters
for($i = 0, $size = count($city_json_data_array); $i < $size; ++$i) {
if ($city_json_data_array[$i].['name'] == $city){
$cityId = $city_json_data_array[$i]['_id'];
print_r($cityId);
}
}

Answer 4

So the JSON file was indeed not correct, I had to use str_replace() and write the file using file_put_contents() to create a new valid json file.
This is my working code
if (isset($_GET['city']) && $_GET['city']){
$city = ucwords($_GET['city']);
if (file_exists('currentCityArray.json')) {
$cityArray = file_get_contents("currentCityArray.json");
$decodedArray="";
$decodedArray = json_decode($cityArray, true);
//print_r($decodedArray);
//Search the $decodedArray to match city name entered by the user and fetch the cityID for that city
for($i = 0, $size = count($decodedArray);$i<$size; $i++) {
if ($decodedArray[$i]['name'] == $city){
$cityId = $decodedArray[$i]['_id'];
}
}
if(!$cityId){
$error .= $city." city could not be found in our database. Please enter a valid city name.";
}else{
//Fetch the weather contents by using $cityId
$urlContents = file_get_contents("http://api.openweathermap.org/data/2.5/forecast?id=".urlencode($cityId)."&APPID=0934a70098e84dc720b8d7f07bb1202d");
// added a flag 'true' to retrieve the data in $weatherArray as associative array
$weatherArray = json_decode($urlContents, true);
//print_r ($weatherArray);
if($weatherArray['cod']=="200"){
//print_r($weatherArray);
$weatherInfo = "The weather in ".$city." is currently '".$weatherArray['list'][0]['weather'][0]['description']."'";
$tempCelcius = intval($weatherArray['list'][0]['main']['temp'] - 273);
$weatherInfo .= ". The average temperature is expected to be about: ".$tempCelcius."°C";
$windSpeed = $weatherArray['list'][0]['wind']['speed'];
$weatherInfo .= ". The wind speed is currently ".$windSpeed."m/s.";
}else{
$error .= $city." city could not be found in our database. Please enter a valid city name.";
}
}
}else{
$error .= "Crikey ! the file with the list of cities has gone missing!";
}
}