Converting Json String into PHP array then using php array - php

Question

Im new to json & php and I'm having some issues with json into php string
My json string looks like this
{"status":"OK","cards":
[{"id":100001,"name":"batman","image":11111,"size":75,"region_id":1,"locked":false,"status":"active","created_at":"2013-08-15T11:37:07Z"},
{"id":100002,"name":"superman","image":111111,"size":75,"region_id":1,"locked":false,"status":"active","created_at":"2013-08-15T12:30:09Z"},
{"id":100003,"name":"catwoman","image":1111111,"size":75,"region_id":1,"locked":false,"status":"active","created_at":"2013-08-15T12:39:42Z"},
{"id":100004,"name":"bane","image":1111111,"size":75,"region_id":1,"locked":false,"status":"active","created_at":"2013-09-08T12:56:04Z"}
]}
So Far i have created my string
$json_raw = '{"status":"OK","cards": [{"id":100001,"name": .....
Decoded the json
$arr = json_decode($json_raw, TRUE);
I var_dump($arr);
then it returns
array(2) { ["status"]=> string(2) "OK" ["cards"]=> array(4) { [0]=> array(8) { ["id"]=> int(100001) ["name"]=> string(6) "batman" ["image"]=> int(11111) ["size"]=> int(75) ["region_id"]=> int(1) ["locked"]=> bool(false) ["status"]=> string(6) "active" ["created_at"]=> string(20) "2013-08-15T11:37:07Z" } [1]=> array(8) { ["id"]=> int(100002) ["name"]=> string(8) "superman" ["image"]=> int(111111) ["size"]=> int(75) ["region_id"]=> int(1) ["locked"]=> bool(false) ["status"]=> string(6) "active" ["created_at"]=> string(20) "2013-08-15T12:30:09Z" } [2]=> array(8) { ["id"]=> int(100003) ["name"]=> string(8) "catwoman" ["image"]=> int(1111111) ["size"]=> int(75) ["region_id"]=> int(1) ["locked"]=> bool(false) ["status"]=> string(6) "active" ["created_at"]=> string(20) "2013-08-15T12:39:42Z" } [3]=> array(8) { ["id"]=> int(100004) ["name"]=> string(4) "bane" ["image"]=> int(1111111) ["size"]=> int(75) ["region_id"]=> int(1) ["locked"]=> bool(false) ["status"]=> string(6) "active" ["created_at"]=> string(20) "2013-09-08T12:56:04Z" } } }
Now all I want to do is be able to use this data
e.g if name = batman then
I know this is a stupid question but I am struggling :(
Thank in Advance

Answer 1

json_decode() with TRUE as second parameter gives you an associative array. You need to access the correct index to do what you want.
To list the complete associative array with nice formatting, you can do:
echo '<pre>', print_r($arr), '</pre>';
Now, to access the name in your array:
$man = $arr['cards'][0]['name'];
To check if it's Batman (yay!):
if( isset($man) && $man == 'batman' ) {
# code ...
}
For getting the name of all similar names:
$man = $json['cards']['0']['name'];
for ($i=0; $i < count($json['cards']); $i++) {
echo $json['cards'][$i]['name']."\n";
}
See it live!

Answer 2

when you got the array
$arr = json_decode($json_raw, TRUE);
then check if cards key exist
if(array_key_exists('cards', $arr)){
foreach($arr['cards'] as $key=>$val){
echo $key; ///name, id..
echo $val; /// batman,...
if($key == 'name' && $val =='batman'){
//-------do your stuff
}
}
}

Answer 3

Try with:
$cards = $arr['cards'];
foreach($cards as $card) {
if($card['name'] == 'batman') echo 'Hello batman!';
}
EDIT:
Ok, so this worked for me using code above, try it yourself if you want:
<?php
$json_raw = '{"status":"OK","cards":
[{"id":100001,"name":"batman","image":11111,"size":75,"region_id":1,"locked":false,"status":"active","created_at":"2013-08-15T11:37:07Z"},
{"id":100002,"name":"superman","image":111111,"size":75,"region_id":1,"locked":false,"status":"active","created_at":"2013-08-15T12:30:09Z"},
{"id":100003,"name":"catwoman","image":1111111,"size":75,"region_id":1,"locked":false,"status":"active","created_at":"2013-08-15T12:39:42Z"},
{"id":100004,"name":"bane","image":1111111,"size":75,"region_id":1,"locked":false,"status":"active","created_at":"2013-09-08T12:56:04Z"}
]}';
$arr = json_decode($json_raw, TRUE);
$cards = $arr['cards'];
foreach($cards as $card) {
if($card['name'] == 'batman') echo 'Hello batman!';
}
?>