PHP JSON foreach Array Issue

Question

I'm trying to use PHP to display some JSON data from an API. I need to use foreach to return all my results but nested within them is an array. The array is "highlights" which sometimes has "description" and sometimes "content" and sometimes both. I need to do a foreach within a foreach or something along those lines but everything I try just returns "Array".

Here's the JSON...

https://api.data.gov/gsa/fbopen/v0/opps?q=lte+test+bed+system&data_source=FBO&limit=100&show_closed=true&api_key=CTrs3pcYimTdR4WKn50aI1GcUxyL9M4s1fyBbSer

Here's my PHP...

$json_returned = file_get_contents("JSON_URL");
$decoded_results = json_decode($json_returned, true);
echo "Number Found:".$decoded_results['numFound']."</br> ";
echo "Start:".$decoded_results['start']."</br>";
echo "Max Score:".$decoded_results['maxScore']."</br>";
foreach($decoded_results['docs'] as $results){
echo "Parent Link T:".$results['parent_link_t']."</br>";
echo "Description:".$results['highlights']['description']."</br>";
}

Obviously the working version I'm using has a lot more fields programmed in but I cut them out to keep this code short and simple and show how I have everything else besides the "hightlights" field in one foreach. The JSON returns require that I keep everything in that foreach, so how to I display the array inside of it?

Thanks for any help and thanks for taking the time to read this even if you can contribute.

• John Chase: Tried what was recommended there but still no luck, perhaps it's something I'm doing wrong. All the same that's a great source of information and I appreciate you posting it!

Answer 1

The 'description' is array with one element so you can use this.

echo 'Description:' . $results['highlights']['description'][0];

If it sometimes has 'description' and sometimes 'content'. Use isset to check which one it is, or even if there are both and print accordingly.

// for description
if(isset($results['highlights']['description'])) {
 echo 'Description:' . $results['highlights']['description'][0];
}
// for content
if(isset($results['highlights']['content'])) {
 echo 'Content:' . $results['highlights']['content'][0];
}

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Look into the php array_column() function: http://php.net/manual/de/function.array-column.php