json_decode in PHP to set a cookie - php

Question

I want to decode Json returned from the WebService, And it should set a cookie, that i want to use to call next WebService API. I am not sure how to set a cookie, and decode this json.
I tried decoding it, but get the error. I need to extract sessionId. You can use the WebService.. I have put this on Internet.
Here is my code sample
<?php //extract data from the post
extract($_POST); //set POST variables
$url = 'http://202.83.243.119/ems/loginByEID.json';
$fields = array(
'eid'=>urlencode("7ea888b6-36e9-49db-84f3-856043841bef")
);
//url-ify the data for the POST
foreach($fields as $key=>$value) {
$fields_string .=
$key.'='.$value.'&'; }
rtrim($fields_string,'&');
//open connection $ch = curl_init();
//set the url, number of POST vars,
POST data
curl_setopt($ch,CURLOPT_URL,$url);
curl_setopt($ch,CURLOPT_POST,count($fields));
curl_setopt($ch,CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS,$fields_string);
//execute post $result =
curl_exec($ch);
//close connection curl_close($ch);
//decoding Json $obj =
json_decode($result);
print $obj->{'stat'};
?>

Answer 1

Use setcookie() to set a cookie.
Avoid extract() like the plague; it can be used to introduce any client-specified variables into your code.
Use $fields_string = http_build_query($_GET) to build a query string instead of your hodge-podge above.
Format your code properly. For example, you put the $obj = inside the previous comment line.