PHP JSON Google Definitions - accessing a value - php

Question

EDIT#4: json_decode is failing and returning null on a seemingly valid json string. See below for more info
I am new to JSON/JSONP and I'm running into constant trouble accessing the values in the returned JSON with PHP. I have stripped the JSONP callback without issue using code I found on this board. I am getting a JSONP result from http://www.google.com/dictionary/json?callback=a&sl=en&tl=en&q=love and struggling to access the first result for the meaning. It's a quite complex result, and I need to access the first meaning (in the node "text") from the below JSON result.
http://pastebin.com/hBTeBTUL
My best attempt was:
if (isset($json->primaries[1]->entries[1]->terms[1]->text))
The above was the best I could do, I just keep getting errors trying to return that text node saying it is undefined. I'd prefer to work with objects rather than associative arrays too, if possible, so please avoid telling me to set it to return assoc array.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm really stuck :P
EDIT:
$json->primaries[1]->entries[1]->terms[0]->text didn't seem to work either. Here is the complete script. Ignore the $params array as it is not used, was going to use it to generate the query.
The script has been edited since when I first posted, I had an invalid JSON object, but the error seems to be fixed as it will now parse through JSON formatters.
The error i'm getting trying to print the value out is
PHP Notice: Trying to get property of non-object in /home/outil2/Plugins/GDefine.php on line 23
EDIT#2: added json_decode which was in my original solution, but got lost in the second version
<?php
class GDefine extends Plugin {
public static $enabled = TRUE;
public function onReceivedData($data) {
if ($data["message"][0] == ".def") {
$params = array (
"callback" => "a",
"sl" => "en",
"tl" => "en",
"q" => $data["message"][1]
);
$jsonp = file_get_contents(
"http://www.google.com/dictionary/json?callback=a&sl=en&tl=en&q=" . $data["message"][1]);
$json = json_decode(substr($jsonp, 2, strlen($jsonp)-12));
var_dump($json);
print_r($json->primaries[1]->entries[1]->terms[0]->text);
if (isset($json->primaries[1]->entries[1]->terms[0]->text)) {
$text = $this->bold("Google Definition: ");
$text .= $this->teal($json->primaries[1]->entries[1]->terms[0]->text);
$this->privmsg($data["target"], $text);
} else {
$this->privmsg($data["target"], "error error error");
}
}
}
}
EDIT #3: this is the string I'm trying to json_decode, after using substr to remove the callback function, but am getting a NULL value returned on var_dump($json)
{"query":"love","sourceLanguage":"en","targetLanguage":"en","primaries":[{"type":"headword","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"love","language":"en","labels":[{"text":"Noun","title":"Part-of-speech"}]},{"type":"phonetic","text":"/lÉv/","language":"und"},{"type":"sound","text":"http://www.gstatic.com/dictionary/static/sounds/de/0/love.mp3","language":"und"}],"entries":[{"type":"related","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"loves","language":"und","labels":[{"text":"plural"}]}]},{"type":"meaning","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"An intense feeling of deep affection","language":"en"}],"entries":[{"type":"example","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"babies fill parents with intense feelings of \x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e","language":"en"}]},{"type":"example","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"their \x3cb\x3e\x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e for\x3c/b\x3e their country","language":"en"}]}]},{"type":"meaning","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"A deep romantic or sexual attachment to someone","language":"en"}],"entries":[{"type":"example","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"it was \x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e at first sight","language":"en"}]},{"type":"example","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"they were both \x3cb\x3ein \x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e with\x3c/b\x3e her","language":"en"}]},{"type":"example","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"we were slowly \x3cb\x3efalling in \x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e\x3c/b\x3e","language":"en"}]}]},{"type":"meaning","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"A personified figure of \x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e, often represented as Cupid","language":"en"}]},{"type":"meaning","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"A great interest and pleasure in something","language":"en"}],"entries":[{"type":"example","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"his \x3cb\x3e\x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e for\x3c/b\x3e football","language":"en"}]},{"type":"example","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"we share a \x3cb\x3e\x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e of\x3c/b\x3e music","language":"en"}]}]},{"type":"meaning","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"Affectionate greetings conveyed to someone on one\x27s behalf","language":"en"}]},{"type":"meaning","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"A formula for ending an affectionate letter","language":"en"}],"entries":[{"type":"example","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"take care, lots of \x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e, Judy","language":"en"}]}]},{"type":"meaning","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"A person or thing that one \x3cem\x3eloves\x3c/em\x3e","language":"en"}],"entries":[{"type":"example","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"she was \x3cb\x3ethe \x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e of his life\x3c/b\x3e","language":"en"}]},{"type":"example","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"their two great \x3cem\x3eloves\x3c/em\x3e are tobacco and whiskey","language":"en"}]}]},{"type":"meaning","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"A friendly form of address","language":"en"}],"entries":[{"type":"example","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"it\x27s all right, \x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e","language":"en"}]}]},{"type":"meaning","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"Used to express affectionate approval for someone","language":"en"}],"entries":[{"type":"example","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"don\x27t fret, there\x27s a \x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e","language":"en"}]}]},{"type":"meaning","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"(in tennis, squash, and some other sports) A score of zero; nil","language":"en"}],"entries":[{"type":"example","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"\x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e fifteen","language":"en"}]},{"type":"example","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"he was down two sets to \x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e","language":"en"}]}]}]},{"type":"headword","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"love","language":"en","labels":[{"text":"Verb","title":"Part-of-speech"}]},{"type":"phonetic","text":"/lÉv/","language":"und"},{"type":"sound","text":"http://www.gstatic.com/dictionary/static/sounds/de/0/love.mp3","language":"und"}],"entries":[{"type":"related","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"loved","language":"und","labels":[{"text":"past participle"}]},{"type":"text","text":"loves","language":"und","labels":[{"text":"3rd person singular present"}]},{"type":"text","text":"loving","language":"und","labels":[{"text":"present participle"}]},{"type":"text","text":"loved","language":"und","labels":[{"text":"past tense"}]}]},{"type":"meaning","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"Feel a deep romantic or sexual attachment to (someone)","language":"en"}],"entries":[{"type":"example","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"do you \x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e me?","language":"en"}]}]},{"type":"meaning","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"Like very much; find pleasure in","language":"en"}],"entries":[{"type":"example","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"I\x27d \x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e a cup of tea, thanks","language":"en"}]},{"type":"example","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"I just \x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e dancing","language":"en"}]},{"type":"example","terms":[{"type":"text","text":"a fun-\x3cem\x3eloving\x3c/em\x3e girl","language":"en"}]}]}]}]}
I json_decode that and it returns NULL :(

Answer 1

You're trying to access an object that doesn't exist. Your code:
if (isset($json->primaries[1]->entries[1]->terms[1]->text)) // Doesn't exist
There's no terms[1] in entries[1] in primaries[1]. There's just 1 item; terms[0]. I think this will work for example:
if (isset($json->primaries[1]->entries[1]->terms[0]->text))
The first item in the array is indexed by 0 not 1, maybe that's your mistake.
Edit:
You also need to decode the JSON, change:
$json = substr($jsonp, 2, strlen($jsonp)-12);
to:
$json = json_decode(substr($jsonp, 2, strlen($jsonp)-12));
Edit:
You need to escape some unescaped characters in the JSON as well. Add this to your code:
Change:
$json = json_decode(substr($jsonp, 2, strlen($jsonp)-12));
to:
$json = substr($jsonp, 2, strlen($jsonp) - 12);
$json = str_replace("\\", "\\\\", $json);
$json = json_decode($json);