Parsing JSON data using variables as keys

Question

I am getting a JSON response which looks like this:

stdClass Object
(
 [location00] => Array
 (
 [0] => stdClass Object
 (
 [id_0] => Array
 (
 [0] => stdClass Object
 (
 [id] => 1
 [name] => Wanted by Aryurumoka
 [gold_reward] => 58900
 [event] => 0
 [description] => Not provided.
 )
 )
 )
 )
)

For example, i am able to get [name] by $quests->location00[0]->id_0[0]->name.

Lets say i create a new variable $location = 'location00'. Now if i try $quests->$location[0]->id_0[0]->name', i am getting Undefined property: stdClass::$l error. I tried $location = 'location00[0]' as well however i have completly no idea why this happenes. How can i assign location00 to variable to use it while parsing JSON?

Answer 1

You can use associative array or $obj->{$var} :

<?php
$quests = json_decode($json, true);
$location = 'location00';
$name = $quests[$location][0]['id_0'][0]['name'];

• lolbas: Thanks for your reply. Using data as array is really cool, however i am trying to start working with objects. +1 though

Answer 2

I'd try to get new JSON, but you can interpolate object property retrieval with braces:

$quests->{$location}[0]

• lolbas: Ahh, nice, this worked perfectly. Since i am quite new to parsing JSON, could you please explain or give link to manual that explains purpose of braces?
• Explosion Pills: @lolbas this has nothing to do with JSON specifically ... it's just a PHP syntax thing.
• kero: @lolbas This is a PHP concept called variable variables
• Explosion Pills: @lolbas actually you need the braces so that the variable interpolation is done first. If you do $quests->$location[0] it would be similar as if you did $quests->{$location[0]}