Outputting manual JSON in PHP - php

Question

I am building some JSON myself like so:
echo '{ "type": "root",';
echo '"children" : [';
echo '{';
echo '"identifier": "Contractor",';
echo '"title": "Contractor",';
echo '"autoIdentifier": true,';
echo '"options": [';
foreach ($names as $n){
echo '{';
echo '"text": '.'"'.$n['name'].'",';
echo '"identifier": '.'"'.$n['id'].'"';
echo '},';
}
echo '],';
echo '"title": "TEST",';
echo '"description": ""';
echo '}';
As you can see i am looping through some data to print into the JSON output. The problem i am having is the last echo within the loop. This is because it currently has a comma after the bracket.
However if it is the last element within my data loop, i want the comma to be removed so that it creates proper JSON.
How can i achieve this? With some kind of counter and then an if statement?

Answer 1

$names = array_map(function($name) {
return '{ "text":"' . $name['name'] . '", "identifier":"' . $name['id'] . '" }';
}, $names);
echo '{ "type": "root",';
echo '"children" : [';
echo '{';
echo '"identifier": "Contractor",';
echo '"title": "Contractor",';
echo '"autoIdentifier": true,';
echo '"options": [';
echo implode(',', $names);
echo '],';
echo '"title": "TEST",';
echo '"description": ""';
echo '}';

Answer 2

I'd seriously prefer just using PHPs JSON encoding features, json_encode. For example, what if the $n["name"] had a quote in it? Your JSON would be invalid, but if you used json_encode, it'd take care of that.
$child = [
"identifier" => "Contractor",
"autoIdentifier" => true,
"options" => [],
"title" => "TEST",
"description" => ""
];
foreach ($names as $n)
{
$child["options"][] = [
"text" => $n["name"],
"identifier" => $n["id"]
];
}
header( "Content-Type: application/json" );
echo json_encode( ["type" => "root", "children" => [$child]] );

Answer 3

change your loop to:
$var = '';
foreach ($names as $n){
$var .= '{';
$var .= '"text": "'.$n['name'].'",';
$var .= '"identifier": "'.$n['id'].'"';
$var .= '} ,';
}
$var = rtrim($var,",");
echo $var;
OR
change your code like this:
$var = '{ "type": "root","children" : [{"identifier": "Contractor","title": "Contractor","autoIdentifier": true,"options": [';
foreach ($names as $n){
$var .= '{"text": "'.$n["name"].'","identifier": "'.$n["id"].'"} ,';
}
$var = rtrim($var,",");
$var = '],"title": "TEST","description": ""}';
echo $var;