PHP preg_replace a json stringified object - php

Question

i have a regex challenge i can't solve on my own, i have a json stringified file that hold lots of entries so instead of decoding it and looping over all items i want just use a preg_replace to delete a specific item with specific id.
so my json look like this:
[
{
"id":"440",
"type":"prospect",
"fullname":"elizabeth cogelizabeth",
"phone":"01768413081",
"..." : ""
},
{
"id":"436",
"type":"prospect",
"fullname":"mandy cogmandy",
"phone":"01697349008",
"..." : ""
}
]
what i know is the id part so i can do something like this
preg_replace('/{\"id\"\:\"440\".*?\"},/', '', $jsonBlob);
unfortunately my regex don't keep in count the last item that doesn't end with comma , but with a bracket ]
any help is really appreciated. thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Loop through JSON example using the id, in your case you don't need to use unset().
$json = '[
{
"id":"440",
"type":"prospect",
"fullname":"elizabeth cogelizabeth",
"phone":"01768413081",
"..." : ""
},
{
"id":"436",
"type":"prospect",
"fullname":"mandy cogmandy",
"phone":"01697349008",
"..." : ""
}
]';
$arr = json_decode($json,true);
foreach($arr as $key => $value) {
if($value['id']==436) {
unset($arr[$key]); // delete this entry from results
// $value = your_new_json_object {id,type,..}
}
}
print_r($arr);
Fiddle

Answer 2

Would you mind to try this Function and see if it does the trick for you?
<?php
// PASS IN THE ID YOU WANNA FILTER-OUT AS $id,
// 2ND PARAMETER IS THE JSON STRING
// 3RD PARAMETER IS THE REPLACEMENT STRING: IN YOUR CASE EMPTY: ""
function removeJsonBlock($id, $jsonSTR, $replacement="YEAH!!! IT WORKS!!!"){
$jsonSTR = trim($jsonSTR);
$filteredJson = preg_replace('#(\{\s*)([\'\"]id[\'\"]\:)(\s?[\'\"])' . trim($id) . '([\'\"])([\w,\.;\"\'\-\?\:\s_\n\r]+)(\},?)#si', $replacement, $jsonSTR);
return $filteredJson;
}
// THE JSON STRING IN QUESTION - REGARDLESS OF WHETHER DYNAMIC OR NOT.
$jsonSTR =<<<JSS
[
{
"id":"440",
"type":"prospect",
"fullname":"elizabeth cogelizabeth",
"phone":"01768413081",
"..." : ""
},
{
"id":"436",
"type":"prospect",
"fullname":"mandy cogmandy",
"phone":"01697349008",
"..." : ""
},
// ADD ANOTHER NODE WITH THE SAME ID OF 440 FOR EXAMPLE...
{
"id":"440",
"type":"prospect",
"fullname":"elizabeth cogelizabeth",
"phone":"01768413081",
"..." : ""
},
]
JSS;
// TEST THE SIMULATION... IT SHOULD REMOVE EVERY ENTRY WITH ID: 440
var_dump(removeJsonBlock(440, $jsonSTR));
//
I hope it helps in a little bit.... ;-)

Answer 3

You can use this regex:
{\s*"id":"440"[^}]*}
As a string that's:
$re = "/{\\s*\"id\":\"440\"[^}]*}/im";
This assumes that id is the first value in the JSON array, but it will account for whitespace. It uses [^}]* to grab everything up to the }.
Since you're looking to delete the item, the regex can be changed to look for commas before or after the match. I have also included a way for the item to match if it is the only thing in the array:
,\s*{\s*"id":"440"[^}]*}|{\s*"id":"440"[^}]*}\s*,|{\s*"id":"440"[^}]*}
It's easier to read with x spacing enabled:
,\s*{\s*"id":"440"[^}]*} |
{\s*"id":"440"[^}]*}\s*,|
{\s*"id":"440"[^}]*}