JSON Decode in PHP

How to extract and access data from JSON with PHP?

Intro

First off you have a string. JSON is not an array, an object, or a data structure. JSON is a text-based serialization format - so a fancy string, but still just a string. Decode it in PHP by using json_decode().

 $data = json_decode($json);

Therein you might find:

• scalars: strings, ints, floats, and bools
• nulls (a special type of its own)
• compound types: objects and arrays.

These are the things that can be encoded in JSON. Or more accurately, these are PHP's versions of the things that can be encoded in JSON.

There's nothing special about them. They are not "JSON objects" or "JSON arrays." You've decoded the JSON - you now have basic everyday PHP types.

Objects will be instances of stdClass, a built-in class which is just a generic thing that's not important here.

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Accessing object properties

You access the properties of one of these objects the same way you would for the public non-static properties of any other object, e.g. $object->property.

$json = '
{
    "type": "donut",
    "name": "Cake"
}';

$yummy = json_decode($json);

echo $yummy->type; //donut

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Accessing array elements

You access the elements of one of these arrays the same way you would for any other array, e.g. $array[0].

$json = '
[
    "Glazed",
    "Chocolate with Sprinkles",
    "Maple"
]';

$toppings = json_decode($json);

echo $toppings[1]; //Chocolate with Sprinkles

Iterate over it with foreach.

foreach ($toppings as $topping) {
    echo $topping, "\n";
}

Glazed

Chocolate with Sprinkles

Maple

Or mess about with any of the bazillion built-in array functions.

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Accessing nested items

The properties of objects and the elements of arrays might be more objects and/or arrays - you can simply continue to access their properties and members as usual, e.g. $object->array[0]->etc.

$json = '
{
    "type": "donut",
    "name": "Cake",
    "toppings": [
        { "id": "5002", "type": "Glazed" },
        { "id": "5006", "type": "Chocolate with Sprinkles" },
        { "id": "5004", "type": "Maple" }
    ]
}';

$yummy = json_decode($json);

echo $yummy->toppings[2]->id; //5004

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Passing true as the second argument to json_decode()

When you do this, instead of objects you'll get associative arrays - arrays with strings for keys. Again you access the elements thereof as usual, e.g. $array['key'].

$json = '
{
    "type": "donut",
    "name": "Cake",
    "toppings": [
        { "id": "5002", "type": "Glazed" },
        { "id": "5006", "type": "Chocolate with Sprinkles" },
        { "id": "5004", "type": "Maple" }
    ]
}';

$yummy = json_decode($json, true);

echo $yummy['toppings'][2]['type']; //Maple

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Accessing associative array items

When decoding a JSON object to an associative PHP array, you can iterate both keys and values using the foreach (array_expression as $key => $value) syntax, eg

$json = '
{
    "foo": "foo value",
    "bar": "bar value",
    "baz": "baz value"
}';

$assoc = json_decode($json, true);
foreach ($assoc as $key => $value) {
    echo "The value of key '$key' is '$value'", PHP_EOL;
}

Prints

The value of key 'foo' is 'foo value'

The value of key 'bar' is 'bar value'

The value of key 'baz' is 'baz value'

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Don't know how the data is structured

Read the documentation for whatever it is you're getting the JSON from.

Look at the JSON - where you see curly brackets {} expect an object, where you see square brackets [] expect an array.

Hit the decoded data with a print_r():

$json = '
{
    "type": "donut",
    "name": "Cake",
    "toppings": [
        { "id": "5002", "type": "Glazed" },
        { "id": "5006", "type": "Chocolate with Sprinkles" },
        { "id": "5004", "type": "Maple" }
    ]
}';

$yummy = json_decode($json);

print_r($yummy);

and check the output:

stdClass Object
(
    [type] => donut
    [name] => Cake
    [toppings] => Array
        (
            [0] => stdClass Object
                (
                    [id] => 5002
                    [type] => Glazed
                )

            [1] => stdClass Object
                (
                    [id] => 5006
                    [type] => Chocolate with Sprinkles
                )

            [2] => stdClass Object
                (
                    [id] => 5004
                    [type] => Maple
                )

        )

)

It'll tell you where you have objects, where you have arrays, along with the names and values of their members.

If you can only get so far into it before you get lost - go that far and hit that with print_r():

print_r($yummy->toppings[0]);

stdClass Object
(
    [id] => 5002
    [type] => Glazed
)

Take a look at it in this handy interactive JSON explorer.

Break the problem down into pieces that are easier to wrap your head around.

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json_decode() returns null

This happens because either:

1. The JSON consists entirely of just that, null.
2. The JSON is invalid - check the result of json_last_error_msg or put it through something like JSONLint.
3. It contains elements nested more than 512 levels deep. This default max depth can be overridden by passing an integer as the third argument to json_decode().

If you need to change the max depth you're probably solving the wrong problem. Find out why you're getting such deeply nested data (e.g. the service you're querying that's generating the JSON has a bug) and get that to not happen.

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Object property name contains a special character

Sometimes you'll have an object property name that contains something like a hyphen - or at sign @ which can't be used in a literal identifier. Instead you can use a string literal within curly braces to address it.

$json = '{"@attributes":{"answer":42}}';
$thing = json_decode($json);

echo $thing->{'@attributes'}->answer; //42

If you have an integer as property see: How to access object properties with names like integers? as reference.

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Someone put JSON in your JSON

It's ridiculous but it happens - there's JSON encoded as a string within your JSON. Decode, access the string as usual, decode that, and eventually get to what you need.

$json = '
{
    "type": "donut",
    "name": "Cake",
    "toppings": "[{ \"type\": \"Glazed\" }, { \"type\": \"Maple\" }]"
}';

$yummy = json_decode($json);
$toppings = json_decode($yummy->toppings);

echo $toppings[0]->type; //Glazed

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Data doesn't fit in memory

If your JSON is too large for json_decode() to handle at once things start to get tricky. See:

• Processing large JSON files in PHP
• How to properly iterate through a big json file

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How to sort it

See: Reference: all basic ways to sort arrays and data in PHP.

How to PHP decode JSON from MYSQL

So assuming you want that last variable to be the string you need this

$json_array = json_decode($json);
$json_wave = implode(',', $json_array->data);

Because your JSON contains an object, PHP puts it into an object by default. That's what var_dump means when it says stdClass

json_decode to array

As per the documentation, you need to specify true as the second argument if you want an associative array instead of an object from json_decode. This would be the code:

$result = json_decode($jsondata, true);

If you want integer keys instead of whatever the property names are:

$result = array_values(json_decode($jsondata, true));

However, with your current decode you just access it as an object:

print_r($obj->Result);

How to get values of decoded JSON data in PHP

For example, if you want to print the senderid :

<?php
$var = '{"senderDetails":[{"status":"failed","senderid":"0","message":"Kindly upgrade your account to use this service."}]}';

$decoded = json_decode($var);

var_dump($decoded);
echo($decoded->senderDetails[0]->senderid);

?>

It's important to use var_dump() on those kind of variables to understand how to access them properly.

Json decode function not decoding in PHP

Print the output of json_decode($sampleRowGeom) and you'll realize why this happens.

From the json_decode() manual:

NULL is returned if the json cannot be decoded or if the encoded data is deeper than the recursion limit.

The value you're fetching from that union table isn't valid json.

PHP json decode data using foreach

Here is a code sample:

$json_data = file_get_contents("http://ddragon.leagueoflegends.com/cdn/6.24.1/data/en_US/profileicon.json");

$data = json_decode($json_data, true);

$items = $data['data'];

foreach($items as $item){
    // Here you can get $item['id'] and $item['image'] and echo or do what you want with that data
}

PHP JSON Decode with number

as lone as you are decoding your json as an object, you can not use numbers as a properties names

so, you need to this line :

$csgoStatus = $steamStatus->ISteamGameCoordinator->730->online;

should be as follows :

$csgoStatus = $steamStatus->ISteamGameCoordinator->{"730"}->online;
//                                                 ^^^^^^^

also the same with those lines :

$csgoplayerssearching = $steamStatus->ISteamGameCoordinator->{"730"}->stats->players_searching;
$csgoplayers =  $steamStatus->ISteamGameCoordinator->{"730"}->stats->players_online;

or, simply by decoding your json as an array

$steamStatus = json_decode($steamStatusJson, true);

and then you can access it as :

$csgoStatus = $steamStatus['ISteamGameCoordinator']['730']['online'];
//....

How do I parse this kind of json string in PHP, since json_decode not working?

for some reason, your input string has been encoded into JSON twice, so you need to call json_decode() twice:

$array = json_decode(json_decode($aboveStr), true);

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