Why doesn't this work?: decoding json into php array - php

Question

$json = file_get_contents('outputsjson.php');
The file encodes an array then just echoes it as this (and echo $json outputs this):
{"theList":{"1":{"name":"DSC04156.JPG","title":"DSC04156.JPG","width":3264},"2":{"name":"DSC04157.JPG","title":"DSC04157.JPG","width":3264},"3":{"name":"DSC04158.JPG","title":"DSC04158.JPG","width":3264},"4":{"name":"DSC04159.JPG","title":"DSC04159.JPG","width":3264}}}
Now I'm trying to decode it from another page like this:
$myarray = json_decode($json, true);
print_r($myarray);
This outputs nothing, no errors, nothing!

Answer 1

Try this instead (you are mixing " and ' [single quotes instead of double quotes on the string]):
$json = '{"theList":{"1":{"name":"DSC04156.JPG","title":"DSC04156.JPG","width":3264},"2":{"name":"DSC04157.JPG","title":"DSC04157.JPG","width":3264},"3":{"name":"DSC04158.JPG","title":"DSC04158.JPG","width":3264},"4":{"name":"DSC04159.JPG","title":"DSC04159.JPG","width":3264}}} ';
$myarray = json_decode($json, true);
print_r($myarray);
And your result:
Array
(
[theList] => Array
(
[1] => Array
(
[name] => DSC04156.JPG
[title] => DSC04156.JPG
[width] => 3264
)
[2] => Array
(
[name] => DSC04157.JPG
[title] => DSC04157.JPG
[width] => 3264
)
[3] => Array
(
[name] => DSC04158.JPG
[title] => DSC04158.JPG
[width] => 3264
)
[4] => Array
(
[name] => DSC04159.JPG
[title] => DSC04159.JPG
[width] => 3264
)
)
)

Answer 2

Try wrapping the json string in single quotes instead of double quotes:
$json = '{"theList":{"1":{"name":"DSC04156.JPG","title":"DSC04156.JPG","width":3264},"2":{"name":"DSC04157.JPG","title":"DSC04157.JPG","width":3264},"3":{"name":"DSC04158.JPG","title":"DSC04158.JPG","width":3264},"4":{"name":"DSC04159.JPG","title":"DSC04159.JPG","width":3264}}}';

Answer 3

I had no problems executing the following code:
$json = '{"theList":{"1":{"name":"DSC04156.JPG","title":"DSC04156.JPG","width":3264},"2":{"name":"DSC04157.JPG","title":"DSC04157.JPG","width":3264},"3":{"name":"DSC04158.JPG","title":"DSC04158.JPG","width":3264},"4":{"name":"DSC04159.JPG","title":"DSC04159.JPG","width":3264}}}';
$myarray = json_decode($json, true);
print_r($myarray);
My guess would be that the file you are trying to read from does not exist. Remember that, if you are using Linux, file names are case-sensitive. Use the file_exists() function to check this:
var_dump(file_exists('outputsjson.php'));