Loop Through PHP Array Encoded In JSON - php

Question

I have a PHP array that has a table id as the key and a table field as the value.
Example PHP:
while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result))
{
$id = $row['id'];
$array[$id] = $row['some_field'];
}
I then use json_encode($array) to get something like:
{"id1":"value1","abc":"123","xyz":"789"}
How can I loop through this in jQuery? From what I have found so far it seems like I need to know the key. So:
var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(jsonVar);
alert(obj.abc); //prints 123
But how can I get these values if I don't know the keys since they are dynamic?
Do I need to restructure my PHP array?

Answer 1

Once you encode an associative array in php into a JSON object it is no longer an array, it is an object with keys and values. You can iterate through them in javascript using for..in
for (var key in obj) {
console.log(obj[key]);
}
Note: for..in does not garuntee order, if you need to ensure order you will have to make your array indexed, instead of key=>value, and use a for loop (or while) instead.

Answer 2

You can get the keys of your array using Object.keys, then loop through them. Unlike for...in, this gives you the option to .sort() the keys before processing them:
var keys = Object.keys(obj).sort(); // sorting is optional
for (var i=0; i<keys.length; i++) {
var key = keys[i],
val = obj[key];
console.log(key+":"+val);
};
In older browsers, you'll need a polyfill to enable the Object.keys method. MDN has one on their documentation page.