Recursive Function Not Finding Nested Items - php

Question

I am getting a json object as a response from a website, and I am trying to find a match to a string, no matter how deep it is nested. Currently, this works for anything in the first level of the object, but as soon as I try something in the second level it does not seem to work. This is my first attempt at a recursive function, so I may just be thinking about it wrong:
foreach($parseObj as $msg) {
parseBlock($msg,'SEARCH STRING',$refID);
}
function parseBlock($block,$id,&$refID) {
if (isset($block->data->id)) {
echo '<b>Parsing: ' . $block->data->id . ':</b><br/> ';
}
if (isset($block->data->body)) {
if (strpos($block->data->body,$id) !== false) {
echo 'found it - <br/>';
$refID = $block->data->name;
return $refID;
} else {
echo 'not here<br/>';
}
}
if (isset($block->data->children)) {
foreach($block->data->children as $msg) {
parseBlock($msg,$id,$refID);
}
}
if (isset($block->data->replies->data->children)) {
foreach($block->data->replies->data->children as $msg) {
parseBlock($msg,$id,$refID);
}
}
}
When the item I want is nested 2nd level or deeper, it finds the ID just fine with this line:
echo '<b>Parsing: ' . $block->data->id . ':</b><br/> ';
And I know the string I want ('SEARCH STRING') is listed there because I can see it in a browser, but it tells me "not here"
When it is on the first nesting level, it responds "found it"
How can I make this work for the deeper nested levels?
Here is an example of the JSON object when the item is nested more than 1 level deep:
[
{
"kind": "Listing",
"data": {
"modhash": "pdyhr8d2dgf5ffd0f279801a563bc45cdfd0fd52fb2caa3c86",
"children": [
{
"kind": "t3",
"data": {
"domain": "rankery.com",
"banned_by": null,
"media_embed": {
},
"subreddit": "test",
"selftext_html": null,
"selftext": "",
"likes": true,
"suggested_sort": null,
"user_reports": [
],
"secure_media": null,
"link_flair_text": null,
"id": "39tnux",
"from_kind": null,
"gilded": 0,
"archived": false,
"clicked": false,
"report_reasons": null,
"author": "rankery",
"media": null,
"name": "t3_39tnux",
"score": 2,
"approved_by": null,
"over_18": false,
"hidden": false,
"thumbnail": "default",
"subreddit_id": "t5_2qh23",
"edited": false,
"link_flair_css_class": null,
"author_flair_css_class": null,
"downs": 0,
"mod_reports": [
],
"secure_media_embed": {
},
"saved": false,
"removal_reason": null,
"from": null,
"is_self": false,
"from_id": null,
"permalink": "/r/test/comments/39tnux/rb_test/",
"stickied": false,
"created": 1434307698.0,
"url": "http://www.rankery.com/redditBot1.php",
"author_flair_text": null,
"title": "RB TEST",
"created_utc": 1434304098.0,
"ups": 2,
"upvote_ratio": 1.0,
"num_comments": 21,
"visited": false,
"num_reports": null,
"distinguished": null
}
}
],
"after": null,
"before": null
}
},
{
"kind": "Listing",
"data": {
"modhash": "pdyhr8d2dgf5ffd0f279801a563bc45cdfd0fd52fb2caa3c86",
"children": [
{
"kind": "t1",
"data": {
"subreddit_id": "t5_2qh23",
"banned_by": null,
"removal_reason": null,
"link_id": "t3_39tnux",
"likes": true,
"replies": {
"kind": "Listing",
"data": {
"modhash": "pdyhr8d2dgf5ffd0f279801a563bc45cdfd0fd52fb2caa3c86",
"children": [
{
"kind": "t1",
"data": {
"subreddit_id": "t5_2qh23",
"banned_by": null,
"removal_reason": null,
"link_id": "t3_39tnux",
"likes": true,
"replies": "",
"user_reports": [
],
"saved": false,
"id": "csrd4vg",
"gilded": 0,
"archived": false,
"report_reasons": null,
"author": "rankery",
"parent_id": "t1_cspyeux",
"score": 1,
"approved_by": null,
"controversiality": 0,
"body": "SEARCH STRING",
"edited": 1435959047.0,
"author_flair_css_class": null,
"downs": 0,
"body_html": "<div class=\"md\"><p><a href=\"http://www.rankery.com/incl/redditBot/addRanking.phpid=81\">TEST</a></p>\n</div>",
"subreddit": "test",
"score_hidden": false,
"name": "t1_csrd4vg",
"created": 1435986571.0,
"author_flair_text": null,
"created_utc": 1435957771.0,
"distinguished": null,
"mod_reports": [
],
"num_reports": null,
"ups": 1
}
}
],
"after": null,
"before": null
}
},
"user_reports": [
],
"saved": false,
"id": "cspyeux",
"gilded": 0,
"archived": false,
"report_reasons": null,
"author": "rankery",
"parent_id": "t1_csa56v2",
"score": 1,
"approved_by": null,
"controversiality": 0,
"body": "Random+String%3A+q6K1CmU5FnpW3JO0ij7d9RYPGeZwl24A",
"edited": false,
"author_flair_css_class": null,
"downs": 0,
"body_html": "<div class=\"md\"><p>Random+String%3A+q6K1CmU5FnpW3JO0ij7d9RYPGeZwl24A</p>\n</div>",
"subreddit": "test",
"score_hidden": false,
"name": "t1_cspyeux",
"created": 1435855800.0,
"author_flair_text": null,
"created_utc": 1435852200.0,
"distinguished": null,
"mod_reports": [
],
"num_reports": null,
"ups": 1
}
}
],
"after": null,
"before": null
}
}
]
EDIT: Added JSON Object Example
EDIT 2: ADDED 'SEARCH STRING' into the JSON object to match the example at the top

Answer 1

It looks like body is URL-encoded, so try:
if (strpos(urldecode($block->data->body),$id) !== false) {