Converting Json String into PHP array then using php array

Question

Im new to json & php and I'm having some issues with json into php string

My json string looks like this

{"status":"OK","cards":
[{"id":100001,"name":"batman","image":11111,"size":75,"region_id":1,"locked":false,"status":"active","created_at":"2013-08-15T11:37:07Z"},
{"id":100002,"name":"superman","image":111111,"size":75,"region_id":1,"locked":false,"status":"active","created_at":"2013-08-15T12:30:09Z"},
{"id":100003,"name":"catwoman","image":1111111,"size":75,"region_id":1,"locked":false,"status":"active","created_at":"2013-08-15T12:39:42Z"},
{"id":100004,"name":"bane","image":1111111,"size":75,"region_id":1,"locked":false,"status":"active","created_at":"2013-09-08T12:56:04Z"}
]}

So Far i have created my string

$json_raw = '{"status":"OK","cards": [{"id":100001,"name": .....

Decoded the json

$arr = json_decode($json_raw, TRUE);

I var_dump($arr);

then it returns

array(2) { ["status"]=> string(2) "OK" ["cards"]=> array(4) { [0]=> array(8) { ["id"]=> int(100001) ["name"]=> string(6) "batman" ["image"]=> int(11111) ["size"]=> int(75) ["region_id"]=> int(1) ["locked"]=> bool(false) ["status"]=> string(6) "active" ["created_at"]=> string(20) "2013-08-15T11:37:07Z" } [1]=> array(8) { ["id"]=> int(100002) ["name"]=> string(8) "superman" ["image"]=> int(111111) ["size"]=> int(75) ["region_id"]=> int(1) ["locked"]=> bool(false) ["status"]=> string(6) "active" ["created_at"]=> string(20) "2013-08-15T12:30:09Z" } [2]=> array(8) { ["id"]=> int(100003) ["name"]=> string(8) "catwoman" ["image"]=> int(1111111) ["size"]=> int(75) ["region_id"]=> int(1) ["locked"]=> bool(false) ["status"]=> string(6) "active" ["created_at"]=> string(20) "2013-08-15T12:39:42Z" } [3]=> array(8) { ["id"]=> int(100004) ["name"]=> string(4) "bane" ["image"]=> int(1111111) ["size"]=> int(75) ["region_id"]=> int(1) ["locked"]=> bool(false) ["status"]=> string(6) "active" ["created_at"]=> string(20) "2013-09-08T12:56:04Z" } } } 

Now all I want to do is be able to use this data

e.g if name = batman then

I know this is a stupid question but I am struggling :(

Thank in Advance

• BlitZ: Try this: echo $arr['cards'][0]['name']; (:

Answer 1

json_decode() with TRUE as second parameter gives you an associative array. You need to access the correct index to do what you want.

To list the complete associative array with nice formatting, you can do:

echo '<pre>', print_r($arr), '</pre>';

Now, to access the name in your array:

$man = $arr['cards'][0]['name'];

To check if it's Batman (yay!):

if( isset($man) && $man == 'batman' ) {
 # code ...
}

For getting the name of all similar names:

$man = $json['cards']['0']['name'];
for ($i=0; $i < count($json['cards']); $i++) { 
 echo $json['cards'][$i]['name']."\n";
}

See it live!

• developerCK: if status is not okey then cards key might be empty or not present, so $arr['cards']['0']['name'] it will say undefined

Answer 2

when you got the array

 $arr = json_decode($json_raw, TRUE);

then check if cards key exist

if(array_key_exists('cards', $arr)){
 foreach($arr['cards'] as $key=>$val){
 echo $key; ///name, id..
 echo $val; /// batman,...
 if($key == 'name' && $val =='batman'){
 //-------do your stuff
 }
 }
}

Answer 3

Try with:

$cards = $arr['cards'];
foreach($cards as $card) {
 if($card['name'] == 'batman') echo 'Hello batman!';
}

EDIT:

Ok, so this worked for me using code above, try it yourself if you want:

<?php
$json_raw = '{"status":"OK","cards":
[{"id":100001,"name":"batman","image":11111,"size":75,"region_id":1,"locked":false,"status":"active","created_at":"2013-08-15T11:37:07Z"},
{"id":100002,"name":"superman","image":111111,"size":75,"region_id":1,"locked":false,"status":"active","created_at":"2013-08-15T12:30:09Z"},
{"id":100003,"name":"catwoman","image":1111111,"size":75,"region_id":1,"locked":false,"status":"active","created_at":"2013-08-15T12:39:42Z"},
{"id":100004,"name":"bane","image":1111111,"size":75,"region_id":1,"locked":false,"status":"active","created_at":"2013-09-08T12:56:04Z"}
]}';
$arr = json_decode($json_raw, TRUE);
$cards = $arr['cards'];
foreach($cards as $card) {
 if($card['name'] == 'batman') echo 'Hello batman!';
}
?>

• bestprogrammerintheworld: It was not me downvoting you, but I suppose it's the fact that the arrays are not nested.
• Amal: I didn't downvote your answer, but the OP has an associative array and this won't work.
• alcoceba: Amal I don't understand why this won't work... I'm doing same as you proposed in a different way. Maybe should I check if isset($card['name'])?
• alcoceba: @bestprogrammerintheworld Not nested? But the json string is a multidimensional array right? I'm little confused right now, care to explain the downvotes please so I would know where I'm wrong
• bestprogrammerintheworld: @sparkling - I really can't explain why the downvote, because I didn't downvote myself. My suspiscion is though that when talking about nesting arrays, you usally talk about som kind of loops handling arrays in arrays, but mutlidimensional arrays and nested arrays are actually the same thing. Forgive me for confusing you. It's hard to tell when those do downvotes don't actually tell why. That's a shame.