JSON string in MySQL to json response - php

Question

I have a JSON formatted string stored in a column (meta_data) in a mysql database, stored in the table it looks something like this for example:
{"Format":"JPEG","Geometry":"3216x2136","size":{"width":3216,"height":2136}}
Now if I use the following:
$meta_data = DB::query->get();
return $meta_data;
I get:
[
{
"meta_data": "{\"Format\":\"JPEG\",\"Geometry\":\"3216x2136\",\"size\":{\"width\":3216,\"height\":2136}
}
]
I also get the same result if I use:
$meta_data = json_decode(DB::query->get());
return $meta_data;
Similarly, using response()->json($meta_data); returns it as a string.
It seems to me that it needs to go the next step down but I haven't been able to get anything close to what I'm after, which is ideally:
[
{
"meta_data":
{
"Format":"JPEG",
"Geometry":"3216x2136",
"size":
{
"width":3216,
"height":2136
}
}
}
]

Answer 1

DB::query->get() will return an array of stdClass objects (assuming query is just shorthand for your query conditions). You will need to loop through the array and convert the meta_data field of each entry to a json object manually.
$records = DB::query->get();
foreach ($records as $record) {
$record->meta_data = json_decode($record->meta_data);
}
return $records;
Another option would be to create a Model for the table, and then add the meta_data field to the $casts property to automatically cast it to json.
Model:
class Attachment extends Model
{
protected $casts = [
'meta_data' => 'json',
];
}
Controller:
// assume "query" is shorthand for your query conditions
$records = Attachment::query->get();
return $records;