JSON encoding an associative array containing quotes - php

I have an associative array:
$contents = array();
$contents["notes"] = "this doesn't seem like it will work";
(For sake of simplicity, the above string is not actually defined in-line in my code, it is fetched from the MySQL DB)
When I do:
echo json_encode($contents, JSON_HEX_APOS);
It fails silently and I don't see any output sent to javascript.
However, if the array $contents is not associative, JSON_HEX_APOS seems to convert the quotes as it should, and json_encode works perfectly fine.

That's not a valid PHP array definition. Try instead,
With PHP <5.4: $contents = array("notes => "it'll work!")
With PHP >=5.4: same as above or $contents = ["notes" => "yey"]
And then your echo should work.
--EDIT
As per your edit, the array looks good now. If that's not the problem, check encoding errors with echo json_last_error()

Json_encode usually take array as a parameter.
Your code is almost fine.
Just tweak it a bit like this
$contents = array();
$contents["notes"] = "this doesn't seem like it will work";
echo json_encode(array("data"=>$contents), JSON_HEX_APOS);

Related

How to convert plaintext to array? [duplicate]

I just want to quickly store an array which I get from a remote API, so that i can mess around with it on a local host.
So:
I currently have an array.
I want to people to use the array without having to get it from the API.
There are no needs for efficiency etc here, this isnt for an actual site just for getting some sanitizing/formatting methods made etc
Is there a function like store_array() or restore_arrray() ?!
The best way to do this is JSON serializing. It is human readable and you'll get better performance (file is smaller and faster to load/save). The code is very easy. Just two functions
json_encode
json_decode
Example code:
$arr1 = array ('a'=>1,'b'=>2,'c'=>3,'d'=>4,'e'=>5);
file_put_contents("array.json",json_encode($arr1));
# array.json => {"a":1,"b":2,"c":3,"d":4,"e":5}
$arr2 = json_decode(file_get_contents('array.json'), true);
$arr1 === $arr2 # => true
You can write your own store_array and restore_array functions easily with this example.
For speed comparison see benchmark originally from Preferred method to store PHP arrays (json_encode vs serialize).
If you don't need the dump file to be human-readable, you can just serialize() the array.
storing:
file_put_contents('yourfile.bin', serialize($array));
retrieving:
$array = unserialize(file_get_contents('yourfile.bin'));
Use serialize and unserialize
// storing
$file = '/tmp/out.data';
file_put_contents($file, serialize($mydata)); // $mydata is the response from your remote API
// retreiving
$var = unserialize(file_get_contents($file));
Or another, hacky way:
var_export() does exactly what you want, it will take any kind of variable, and store it in a representation that the PHP parser can read back. You can combine it with file_put_contents to store it on disk, and use file_get_contents and eval to read it back.
// storing
$file = '/tmp/out.php';
file_put_contents($file, var_export($var, true));
// retrieving
eval('$myvar = ' . file_get_contents($file) . ';');
Another fast way not mentioned here:
That way add header with <?php start tag, name of variable \$my_array = with escaped \$ and footer ?> end tag.
Now can use include() like any other valid php script.
<?php
// storing
$file = '/tmp/out.php';
$var = ['a'=>1,'b'=>2,'c'=>3,'d'=>4,'e'=>5];
file_put_contents($file,
"<?php\n\$my_array = "
.var_export($var, true)
.";\n?>"
);
// retrieving as included script
include($file);
//testing
print_r($my_array);
?>
out.php will look like this
<?php
$my_array = array (
'a'=>1,
'b'=>2,
'c'=>3,
'd'=>4,
'e'=>5
);
?>
You can use serialize to make it into a string to write to file, and the accompanying unserialize to return it to an array structure.
I'd suggest using a language independent structure though, such as JSON. This will allow you to load the files using different languages than PHP, in case there's a chance of that later. json_encode to store it and json_decode($str, true) to return it.
Talking about php use, for performance sake, avoid encoding and decoding everything, just save array with:
file_put_contents('dic.php', "<?php \n".'$dic='.var_export($dic, true).';');
and call normally with
include "dic.php";
Use php's serialze:
file_put_contents("myFile",serialize($myArray));
I made a tiny library (~2 KB; <100 lines) that allows you to do just this: varDx
It has functions to write, read, modify, check and delete data.
It implements serialization, and therefore supports all data types.
Here's how you can use it:
<?php
require 'varDx.php';
$dx = new \varDx\cDX; //create an object
$dx->def('file.dat'); //define data file
$val1 = "this is a string";
$dx->write('data1', $val1); //writes key to file
echo $dx->read('data1'); //returns key value from file
In your specific case:
$array1 = array(
"foo" => "bar",
"bar" => "foo",
);
//writing the array to file
$dx->write('myarray', $array1);
//reading array from file
$array2 = $dx->read('myarray')
//modifying array in file after making changes
$dx->write('myarray', $array2);

PHP json_decode return empty array

I just test this sample from php doc (http://au2.php.net/manual/en/function.json-decode.php)
here is my code:
<?php $json = '{"a":1,"b":2,"c":3,"d":4,"e":5}'; echo json_decode($json, true), '<br />';?>
But it just returns an EMPTY array.
Have no idea why...Been searching around but no solution found.
PLEASE help!
You can validate at following
website: http://jsonlint.com/
You have to use a php "json_decode()" function to decode a json encoded data.
Basically json_decode() function converts JSON data to a PHP array.
Syntax: json_decode( data, dataTypeBoolean, depth, options )
data : - The json data that you want to decode in PHP.
dataTypeBoolean(Optional) :- boolean that makes the function return a PHP Associative Array if set to "true", or return a PHP stdClass object if you omit this parameter or set it to "false". Both data types can be accessed like an array and use array based PHP loops for parsing.
depth :- Optional recursion limit. Use an integer as the value for this parameter.
options :- Optional JSON_BIGINT_AS_STRING parameter.
Now Comes to your Code
$json_string = '{"a":1,"b":2,"c":3,"d":4,"e":5}' ;
Assign a valid json data to a variable $json_string within single quot's ('') as
json string already have double quots.
// here i am decoding a json string by using a php 'json_decode' function, as mentioned above & passing a true parameter to get a PHP associative array otherwise it will bydefault return a PHP std class objecy array.
$json_decoded_data = json_decode($json_string, true);
// just can check here your encoded array data.
// echo '<pre>';
// print_r($json_decoded_data);
// loop to extract data from an array
foreach ($json_decoded_data as $key => $value) {
echo "$key | $value <br/>";
}
you should not use echo because it is an array. use print_r or var_dump .it works fine
$json = '{"a":1,"b":2,"c":3,"d":4,"e":5}';
print_r(json_decode($json, true));
Output:
Array
(
[a] => 1
[b] => 2
[c] => 3
[d] => 4
[e] => 5
)
No, it doesn't return an empty array.
Printing an array with echo just prints a string "Array()".
Use print_r or var_dump to get the structure of the variable.
In newer PHP it will also emit a notice when using echo on an array ("Array to string conversion"), so you shouldn't do it anyway. The manual you've mentioned changed to print_r.
It works fine, but you use wrong method to display array.
To display array you cannot use echo but you need to use var_dump
It works fine as others mention, but when you print the array it is converted to string, which means only the string "Array" will be printed instead of the real array data. You should use print_r(), var_dump(), var_export() or something similar to debug arrays like this.
If you turn on notices you will see:
PHP Notice: Array to string conversion in ...
The example you linked uses also var_dump for the same reason.
var_dump have pretty print in php5.4
$json = '{"a":1,"b":2,"c":3,"d":4,"e":5}';
var_dump( json_decode($json));

Access JSON values in PHP

{"coord":{"lon":73.69,"lat":17.8},"sys":{"message":0.109,"country":"IN","sunrise":1393032482,"sunset":1393074559},"weather":[{"id":800,"main":"Clear","description":"Sky is Clear","icon":"01n"}],"base":"cmc stations","main":{"temp":293.999,"temp_min":293.999,"temp_max":293.999,"pressure":962.38,"sea_level":1025.86,"grnd_level":962.38,"humidity":78},"wind":{"speed":1.15,"deg":275.503},"clouds":{"all":0},"dt":1393077388,"id":1264491,"name":"Mahabaleshwar","cod":200}
I am trying to fetch description from the weather from the json above but getting errors in php. I have tried the below php code:
$jsonDecode = json_decode($contents, true);
$result=array();
foreach($jsonDecode as $data)
{
foreach($data{'weather'} as $data2)
{
echo $data2{'description'};
}
}
Any help is appreciated. I am new in using json.
You have to use square brackets ([]) for accessing array elements, not curly ones ({}).
Thus, your code should be changed to reflect these changes:
foreach($data['weather'] as $data2)
{
echo $data2['description'];
}
Also, your outer foreach loop will cause your code to do something completely different than you intend, you should just do this:
foreach($jsonDecode['weather'] as $data2)
{
echo $data2['description'];
}
Your $jsonDecode seems to be an array, so this should work-
foreach($jsonDecode['weather'] as $data)
{
echo $data['description'];
}
You can access data directly with scopes
$json = '{"coord":{"lon":73.69,"lat":17.8},"sys":{"message":0.109,"country":"IN","sunrise":1393032482,"sunset":1393074559},"weather":[{"id":800,"main":"Clear","description":"Sky is Clear","icon":"01n"}],"base":"cmc stations","main":{"temp":293.999,"temp_min":293.999,"temp_max":293.999,"pressure":962.38,"sea_level":1025.86,"grnd_level":962.38,"humidity":78},"wind":{"speed":1.15,"deg":275.503},"clouds":{"all":0},"dt":1393077388,"id":1264491,"name":"Mahabaleshwar","cod":200}';
$jsonDecode = json_decode($json, true);
echo $jsonDecode['weather'][0]['description'];
//output Sky is Clear
As you can see wheater` is surrounded with scopes so that means it is another array. You can loop throw that array if you have more than one result
foreach($jsonDecode['weather'] as $weather)
{
echo $weather['description'];
}
Live demo
If the result of decode is an array, use:
$data['weather']
If the result is an object, use:
$data->weather
you have to access "weather" with "[]" operator
like this,
$data["weather"]
There is several things worth answering in your question:
Q: What's the difference between json_decode($data) and json_decode($data, true)?
A: The former converts JSON object to a PHP object, the latter creates an associative array: http://uk1.php.net/json_decode
In either case, there is no point on iterating over the result. You probably want to access just the 'weather' field:
$o = json_decode($data) => use $weather = $o->weather
$a = json_decode($data, true) => use $weather = $a['weather']
Once you have the 'weather' field, look carefully what it is:
"weather":[{"id":800,"main":"Clear","description":"Sky is Clear","icon":"01n"}]
It's an array, containing a single object. That means you will either need to iterate over it, or use $clearSky = $weather[0]. In this case, it does not matter which approach of json_decode did you choose => JSON array is always decoded to a PHP (numeric indexed) array.
But, once you get $clearSky, you are accessing the object and it again matters, which approach you chose - use arrow or brackets, similarly to the first step.
So, the correct way to get for exaple the weather description would be either of these:
json_decode($data)->weather[0]->description
json_decode($data, true)['weather'][0]['description']
Note: In the latter case, dereferencing result of the function call is supported only in PHP 5.4 or newer. In PHP 5.3 or older, you have to create a variable.
Note: I also encourage you to always check if the expected fields are actually set in the result, using isset. Otherwise you will try to access undefined field, which raises an error.

how to use JSON.stringify and json_decode() properly

Im trying to pass a mulitidimensional Javascript array to another page on my site by:
using JSON.stringify on the array
assigning the resultant value to an input field
posting that field to the second page
using json_decode on the posted value
then var_dump to test
(echo'ing the posted variable directly just to see if it came through
at all)
Javascript on page one:
var JSONstr = JSON.stringify(fullInfoArray);
document.getElementById('JSONfullInfoArray').value= JSONstr;
php on page two:
$data = json_decode($_POST["JSONfullInfoArray"]);
var_dump($data);
echo($_POST["JSONfullInfoArray"]);
The echo works fine but the var_dump returns NULL
What have I done wrong?
This got me fixed up:
$postedData = $_POST["JSONfullInfoArray"];
$tempData = str_replace("\\", "",$postedData);
$cleanData = json_decode($tempData);
var_dump($cleanData);
Im not sure why but the post was coming through with a bunch of "\" characters separating each variable in the string
Figured it out using json_last_error() as sugested by Bart which returned JSON_ERROR_SYNTAX
When you save some data using JSON.stringify() and then need to read that in php. The following code worked for me.
json_decode( html_entity_decode( stripslashes ($jsonString ) ) );
Thanks to #Thisguyhastwothumbs
When you use JSON stringify then use html_entity_decode first before json_decode.
$tempData = html_entity_decode($tempData);
$cleanData = json_decode($tempData);
You'll need to check the contents of $_POST["JSONfullInfoArray"]. If something doesn't parse json_decode will just return null. This isn't very helpful so when null is returned you should check json_last_error() to get more info on what went wrong.
None of the other answers worked in my case, most likely because the JSON array contained special characters. What fixed it for me:
Javascript (added encodeURIComponent)
var JSONstr = encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify(fullInfoArray));
document.getElementById('JSONfullInfoArray').value = JSONstr;
PHP (unchanged from the question)
$data = json_decode($_POST["JSONfullInfoArray"]);
var_dump($data);
echo($_POST["JSONfullInfoArray"]);
Both echo and var_dump have been verified to work fine on a sample of more than 2000 user-entered datasets that included a URL field and a long text field, and that were returning NULL on var_dump for a subset that included URLs with the characters ?&#.
stripslashes(htmlspecialchars(JSON_DATA))
jsonText = $_REQUEST['myJSON'];
$decodedText = html_entity_decode($jsonText);
$myArray = json_decode($decodedText, true);`
I don't how this works, but it worked.
$post_data = json_decode(json_encode($_POST['request_key']));

How to decode the following code in Json?

I'm trying to decode the following JSON using php json_decode function.
[{"total_count":17}]
I think the square brackets in output is preventing it. How do I get around that? I can't control the output because it is coming from Facebook FQL query:
https://api.facebook.com/method/fql.query?format=json&query=SELECT%20total_count%20FROM%20link_stat%20WHERE%20url=%22http://www.apple.com%22
PHP's json_decode returns an instance of stdClass by default.
For you, it's probably easier to deal with array. You can force PHP to return arrays, as a second parameter to json_decode:
$var = json_decode('[{"total_count":17}]', true);
After that, you can access the variable as $result[0]['total_count']
See this JS fiddle for an example of how to read it:
http://jsfiddle.net/8V4qP/1
It's basically the same code for PHP, except you need to pass true as your second argument to json_decode to tell php you want to use it as associative arrays instead of actual objects:
<?php
$result = json_decode('[{"total_count":17}]', true);
print $result[0]['total_count'];
?>
if you don't pass true, you would have to access it like this: $result[0]->total_count because it is an array containing an object, not an array containing an array.
$json = "[{\"total_count\":17}]";
$arr = Jason_decode($json);
foreach ($arr as $obj) {
echo $obj->total_count . "<br>";
}
Or use json_decode($json, true) if you want associative arrays instead of objects.

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