How will PHP Web Service read JSON - php

Question

My JSON is
{"users":[{"UserName":"user1","FullName":"Name One"},
{"UserName":"user2","FullName":"Name Two"}]}
My PHP is
<?php
include '../inc/connect.php';
include '../inc/class/mysql.class.php';
$data = file_get_contents('php://input');
$array = json_decode($data, true);
$rows = array();
foreach ($array['users'] as $parentvalue)
foreach ($parentvalue as $key => $value)
$rows[] = "('" . $value . "', '" . $value . "')";
$values = implode(",", $rows);
try
{
$count = mysql_query("INSERT INTO users (UserName, FullName) VALUES $values") or die(mysql_error());
}
catch(PDOException $e) { //later
}
?>
The structure of the array is
Array
(
[users] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[FullName] => Name One
[UserName] => user1
)
[1] => Array
(
[FullName] => Name Two
[UserName] => user2
)
)
)
Instead of inserting the data:
**user1 - Name One
**user2 - Name Two
to MySQL...
It inserts
**user1 - user1
**Name One - Name One
**user2 - user2
**Name Two - Name Two
Please help!

Answer 1

/********EDIT (prev answer below)*********/
Here is my new code. I have modified your JSON structure based on your comments.
//added addresses as an example (no the postcodes aren't real :P)
$json='{
"users":[
{"UserName":"user1","FullName":"Name One"},
{"UserName":"user2","FullName":"Name 2"}
],
"addresses":[
{"HouseNumber":"1","PostCode":"LS1 1PS"},
{"HouseNumber": "23", "PostCode": "LS1 2PS"}
]
}';
$data=json_decode($json);
//loop over each 'table'
foreach ($data as $table_name=>$data_array){
$table_name=mysql_real_escape_string($table_name);
//loop over each 'row' in table
foreach($data_array as $current_obj){
$current_sql="INSERT INTO ".$table_name." SET ";
$row=array();
//loop through 'row' data and get 'column' name and value.
foreach($current_obj as $name=>$value){
$row[]='`'.mysql_real_escape_string($name).'` = "'.mysql_real_escape_string($value).'"';
}
$current_sql.=implode(',',$row);
mysql_query($current_sql);
unset($current_sql,$name,$value);
}
}
Now, while this code will do what you asked I probably wouldn't use it myself. I would have different endpoints in your web service for the different tables (and use GET,POST,PUT etc http requests to determine action - see REST web services) - Although its more work, clearly defined actions make debugging easier and your application more secure (as you'll know exactly what its doing and what to).
As for authentication, thats a whole issue on its own that I can't really go into here. Please don't think I mean this in an offensive way, but as you're new to development I would advise spending more time learning before trying to make anything production ready - to protect you and your customers more than anything.
Anyway, I hope this helps.
Regards
Ryan
/******* OLD ANSWER - LEFT HERE FOR CLARITY****************/
I believe you don't need the second loop. This is what I have (modify to suit your needs):
$json='{"users":[{"UserName":"user1","FullName":"Name One"},{"UserName":"user2","FullName":"Name 2"}]}';
$data = json_decode($json);
$rows = array();
foreach ($data->users as $user_obj){
$rows[]='("'.$user_obj->UserName.'","'.$user_obj->FullName.'")';
}
$values = implode(",", $rows);
echo "INSERT INTO users (UserName, FullName) VALUES ".$values;
Also, I would advise that you make use of prepared statements or at the very least mysql_real_escape_string.
Hope this helps,
Ryan :)
(P.s I stopped json_decode converting objects to arrays as it feel it is helpful to know when a data structure is supposed to be iterable and when it is not - feel free to change it back if you like.)

Answer 2

I slightly improved your code, for readability's sake. The very first thing you'd realize is that you're dealing with two problems here : one is parsing JSON response, and the second one is inserting records into a table:
$json = '{"users":[{"UserName":"user1","FullName":"Name One"},
{"UserName":"user2","FullName":"Name Two"}]}';
$values = buildArray($json);
insertValues($values);
function buildArray($json) {
$result = array();
$array = array_values(json_decode($json, true));
foreach ($array as $index => $nestedArray) {
foreach($nestedArray as $index => $value) {
$result[] = $value;
}
}
return $result;
}
function insertValues(array $values) {
foreach($values as $index => $array) {
$query = sprintf("INSERT INTO `users` (`UserName`, `FullName`) VALUES ('%s', '%s')",
mysql_real_escape_string($array['UserName']),
mysql_real_escape_string($array['FullName']),
);
if (!mysql_unbuffered_query($query)) {
return false;
}
}
return true;
}