Convert php array to Javascript

Question

How can I convert a PHP array in a format like this

Array
(
 [0] => 001-1234567
 [1] => 1234567
 [2] => 12345678
 [3] => 12345678
 [4] => 12345678
 [5] => AP1W3242
 [6] => AP7X1234
 [7] => AS1234
 [8] => MH9Z2324
 [9] => MX1234
 [10] => TN1A3242
 [11] => ZZ1234
)

to a Javascript array in the format below?

var cities = [
 "Aberdeen",
 "Ada",
 "Adamsville",
 "Addyston",
 "Adelphi",
 "Adena",
 "Adrian",
 "Akron",
 "Albany"
];

• T.J. Crowder: Can you clarify your question? Are you really trying to create a JavaScript array, or are you trying to create a string you can put in a script tag that will create it, or are you trying to create JSON to send back in reply to an ajax request, or... (Also, worth checking out the How to Format box on the right-hand side when you're asking your question, and the page linked from the [?] just above the question area.)

Answer 1

I'm going to assume that the two arrays you've given for PHP and JS are not related, and they're just examples of how arrays look in the two languages. Clearly you're not going to be able to convert those sequences of letters and numbers into those city names.

PHP provides a function to convert PHP arrays into Javascript code: json_encode(). (technically, it's JSON format; JSON stands for JavaScript Object Notation)

Use it like this:

<script type='text/javascript'>
<?php
$php_array = array('abc','def','ghi');
$js_array = json_encode($php_array);
echo "var javascript_array = ". $js_array . ";\n";
?>
</script>

See also the manual page I linked above for more information.

Note that json_encode() is only available in PHP 5.2 and up, so if you're using an older version, you'll need to use an existing one -- the PHP manual page also includes comments with functions written by people who needed it. (but that said, if you're using anything older than PHP 5.2 you should upgrade ASAP)

• user3871: @Spudley Hi, I tried this, and in the javascript tried accessing the array created in php as such console.log('stuff: ' + javascript_array[0]);, but it says javascript_array has not been defined
• Ben Rogmans: If your PHP array contains special characters, this will go wrong. You can escape special characters using urlencode() functions. See my answer: stackoverflow.com/questions/5618925/…
• Spudley: @BenRogmans - PHP's json_encode() function does work with UTF-8 characters. If you're having an issue with it, then it's more likely that you've got other parts of your system in the wrong encoding that need to be changed - the output of json_encode() shouldn't need any additional encoding; that's kinda the whole point.
• Patrick Moore: Just to point out that json_encode define a JavaScript object, NOT an array.
• Spudley: @PatrickMoore - if you're going to be pedantic about it, json_encode outputs a JSON string, which can represent either a JS object or a JS array, or even a single scalar value, if that's what you pass it. The examples in my answer will output a JavaScript array, not an object.

Answer 2

Spudley's answer is fine.

Security Notice: The following should not be necessary any longer for you

If you don't have PHP 5.2 you can use something like this:

function js_str($s)
{
 return '"' . addcslashes($s, "0円..37円\"\\") . '"';
}
function js_array($array)
{
 $temp = array_map('js_str', $array);
 return '[' . implode(',', $temp) . ']';
}
echo 'var cities = ', js_array($php_cities_array), ';';

• Spudley: agreed: if you're using and old PHP, you'll need to write your own. However, you should also consider upgrading your PHP if at all possible!
• hakre: Even if you're using old PHP, don't write your own, take an existing library that is maintained / used by more than one person/project. So this answer is only showing how something could be done, but it should not recommend this - regardless of the PHP version. E.g. pear.php.net/package/Services_JSON
• Udo G: You're right. However, the code above has been used/tested for years in two large projects.
• Udo G: BTW, you added the array_map call. And, honestly, there is no need to edit a perfectly valid answer to the original question and mark it with a "Security Notice" when it doesn't incur any security issues.
• Spudley: @UdoG: if you disagree with an edit, you are free to edit it again yourself. hakre has a point that it would be sensible for someone reading this question to use a library that was known to be secure and well tested, eg from Pear rather than just taking this code on merit. Also, it's worth pointing out that PHP 5.2 was already out of support when this question was asked. As I write now, it has been unsupported for two years and has known security issues that will not be patched. It is therefore a security issue simply to be using PHP 5.2, before we even consider the code in this answer.

Answer 3

You do not have to call parseJSON since the output of json_encode is a javascript literal. Just assign it to a js variable.

<script type="text/javascript">
 //Assign php generated json to JavaScript variable
 var tempArray = <?php echo json_encode($php_array); ?>;
 //You will be able to access the properties as 
 alert(tempArray[0].Key);
</script>

• iconique: Thanks, this worked well even for mixed object array. Very simple and efficient!

Answer 4

Dumb and simple :

var js_array = [<?php echo '"'.implode('","', $php_array).'"' ?>];

• Nis: Just out of curiosity: what would happen when string contains quote , double quotes and/or comma?
• cjbarth: Since there is a function for this, that should be preferred over an improvised solution unless there is a good reason; no reason is herein stated.
• TheTechGuy: works better for unicode characters (urdu in my case)

Answer 5

You can convert PHP arrays into JavaScript using PHP's json_encode function

<?php $phpArray = array(

 0 => 001-1234567, 
 1 => 1234567, 
 2 => 12345678, 
 3 => 12345678,
 4 => 12345678,
 5 => 'AP1W3242',
 6 => 'AP7X1234',
 7 => 'AS1234',
 8 => 'MH9Z2324', 
 9 => 'MX1234', 
 10 => 'TN1A3242',
 11 => 'ZZ1234'
 )
?>
<script type="text/javascript">
 
 var jArray= <?php echo json_encode($phpArray ); ?>;
 
 for(var i=0;i<12;i++){
 alert(jArray[i]);
 }
 </script>

• Eric: that loop is terrible
• Dipesh KC: Well that was for demonstration purpose :)
• Dipesh KC: @Eric the example was directly taken as it is from the question. I could have used console.log() but the question itself is very basic (and user many not have experience with the browser code inspect tool ), so I decided to go with alert() since the user will see it directly.But you know it very well it is not the concerned part of the question, just a way to verify if the logic works or not.

Answer 6

Is very simple I use this way:

JAVASCRIPT:

var arrayJavascript = <?php echo json_encode($arrayPhp) ?>;

Convert PHP array to Javascript

Answer 7

I find the quickest and easiest way to work with a PHP array in Javascript is to do this:

PHP:

$php_arr = array('a','b','c','d');

Javascript:

//this gives me a JSON object
js_arr = '<?php echo JSON_encode($php_arr);?>';
//Depending on what I use it for I sometimes parse the json so I can work with a straight forward array:
js_arr = JSON.parse('<?php echo JSON_encode($php_arr);?>');

• Your Common Sense: WHY did you put JSON Json quotes and and then had to parse it?

Answer 8

You can also do in this way:

<script> 
 <?php 
 $php_array = array('abc','def','ghi');
 ?> 
 var array_code = <?php echo json_encode($php_array); ?>;
 console.log(array_code);
</script>

Answer 9

Use this method:

<?php echo json_encode($your_array); ?>; 

in Laravel blade {{ }} use this method:

{{ str_replace('"', '', json_encode($your_array)) }} 

working for associated and unassociated array.

• Tomas Crofty: The method @MohammadKawsara used works best for me obviously if you trust the user data.

Answer 10

This is my function. JavaScript must be under PHP otherwise use SESSION.

<?php
 $phpArray=array(1,2,3,4,5,6);
?>
<div id="arrayCon" style="width:300px;"></div>
<script type="text/javascript">
var jsArray = new Array();
<?php
 $numArray=count($phpArray);
 for($i=0;$i<$numArray;$i++){
 echo "jsArray[$i] = ". $phpArray[$i] . ";\n";
 }
?>
$("#arrayCon").text(jsArray[1]);
</script>

Last row can be ....text(jsArray); and will be shown "1,2,3,4,5,6"

Answer 11

For a multidimensional array in PHP4 you can use the following addition to the code posted by Udo G:

function js_str($s) {
 return '"'.addcslashes($s, "0円..37円\"\\").'"';
}
function js_array($array, $keys_array) {
 foreach ($array as $key => $value) {
 $new_keys_array = $keys_array;
 $new_keys_array[] = $key;
 if(is_array($value)) { 
 echo 'javascript_array';
 foreach($new_keys_array as $key) {
 echo '["'.$key.'"]';
 }
 echo ' = new Array();';
 js_array($value, $new_keys_array);
 } else {
 echo 'javascript_array';
 foreach($new_keys_array as $key) {
 echo '["'.$key.'"]';
 }
 echo ' = '.js_str($value).";"; 
 }
 } 
}
echo 'var javascript_array = new Array();';
js_array($php_array, array());

Answer 12

I use a fake php array

<?php 
 // instead to create your array like this
 $php_array = ["The","quick","brown","fox","jumps","over","the","lazy","dog"];
 // do it like this (a simple variable but with separator)
 $php_fake_array = "The,quick,brown,fox,jumps,over,the,lazy,dog";
?>
<script type="text/javascript">
 // use the same separator for the JS split() function
 js_array = '<?php echo $php_fake_array; ?>'.split(',');
</script>

if ever your array is unknown (already made)

<?php 
 $php_array = file('my_file.txt');
 $php_fake_array = "";
 // transform your array with concatenate like this
 foreach ($php_array as $cell){
 // since this array is unknown, use clever separator
 $php_fake_array .= $cell.",,,,,"; 
 }
?>
<script type="text/javascript">
 // use the same separator for the JS split() function
 js_array = '<?php echo $php_fake_array; ?>'.split(',,,,,');
</script>

• Peter Mghendi: ...or you could implode() the first array to get the "fake" one. I know this is an old response, but the idea just crossed my mind.
• Mik: sure, but my way is the fastest of all suggestions on this page. Sometimes, speed could be an important factor.

Answer 13

Keep it simple :

var jsObject = JSON.parse('<?= addslashes(json_encode($phpArray)) ?>');

Answer 14

Many good and complex solutions are here and this is a way to doing it without parsing json in user side.

$mtc=array();
$replace=array();
$x = json_encode($thearray);
preg_match_all('/"[a-z0-9_]*":/',$x,$mtc);
foreach($mtc[0] as $v){
 array_push($replace,str_replace('"','',$v));
}
 
$x = str_replace($mtc[0],$replace,$x);
echo '<script type="text/javascript">x='.$x.';console.log(x);</script>';

This works with both indexed and associative arrays(any combination) which has multiple levels, and no need for user side json parsing.

Answer 15

for php use this :

var js_array = <?php echo json_encode($php_array); ?>;

for blade use this:

var js_array = {{ Js::from($php_array) }};

or simply use this:

var js_array @json($php_array)

docs : https://laravel.com/docs/10.x/blade#rendering-json

• Henry Floyd: This generates an Object, not an Array as specified in the question.

Answer 16

This is how I did it:

/*PHP FILE*/
<?php
$data = file_get_contents('http://yourrssdomain.com/rss');
$data = simplexml_load_string($data);
$articles = array();
foreach($data->channel->item as $item){
 
 $articles[] = array(
 
 'title' => (string)$item->title,
 'description' => (string)$item ->description,
 'link' => (string)$item ->link, 
 'guid' => (string)$item ->guid,
 'pubdate' => (string)$item ->pubDate,
 'category' => (string)$item ->category,
 ); 
}
// IF YOU PRINT_R THE ARTICLES ARRAY YOU WILL GET THE SAME KIND OF ARRAY THAT YOU ARE GETTING SO I CREATE AN OUTPUT STING AND WITH A FOR LOOP I ADD SOME CHARACTERS TO SPLIT LATER WITH JAVASCRIPT
$output="";
for($i = 0; $i < sizeof($articles); $i++){
 
 //# Items
 //| Attributes 
 if($i != 0) $output.="#"; /// IF NOT THE FIRST
// IF NOT THE FIRST ITEM ADD '#' TO SEPARATE EACH ITEM AND THEN '|' TO SEPARATE EACH ATTRIBUTE OF THE ITEM 
 
 $output.=$articles[$i]['title']."|";
 $output.=$articles[$i]['description']."|";
 $output.=$articles[$i]['link']."|";
 $output.=$articles[$i]['guid']."|";
 $output.=$articles[$i]['pubdate']."|";
 $output.=$articles[$i]['category'];
}
echo $output;
?>
/* php file */
/*AJAX COMUNICATION*/
$(document).ready(function(e) {
/*AJAX COMUNICATION*/
var prodlist= [];
var attrlist= [];
 $.ajax({ 
 type: "get", 
 url: "php/fromupnorthrss.php", 
 data: {feeding: "feedstest"},
 }).done(function(data) {
 prodlist= data.split('#');
 
 for(var i = 0; i < prodlist.length; i++){
 
 attrlist= prodlist[i].split('|');
 
 alert(attrlist[0]); /// NOW I CAN REACH EACH ELEMENT HOW I WANT TO. 
 }
 });
});

Answer 17

If you need a multidimensional PHP array to be printed directly into the html page source code, and in an indented human-readable Javascript Object Notation (aka JSON) fashion, use this nice function I found in http://php.net/manual/en/function.json-encode.php#102091 coded by somebody nicknamed "bohwaz".

<?php
function json_readable_encode($in, $indent = 0, $from_array = false)
{
 $_myself = __FUNCTION__;
 $_escape = function ($str)
 {
 return preg_replace("!([\b\t\n\r\f\"\\'])!", "\\\\\1円", $str);
 };
 $out = '';
 foreach ($in as $key=>$value)
 {
 $out .= str_repeat("\t", $indent + 1);
 $out .= "\"".$_escape((string)$key)."\": ";
 if (is_object($value) || is_array($value))
 {
 $out .= "\n";
 $out .= $_myself($value, $indent + 1);
 }
 elseif (is_bool($value))
 {
 $out .= $value ? 'true' : 'false';
 }
 elseif (is_null($value))
 {
 $out .= 'null';
 }
 elseif (is_string($value))
 {
 $out .= "\"" . $_escape($value) ."\"";
 }
 else
 {
 $out .= $value;
 }
 $out .= ",\n";
 }
 if (!empty($out))
 {
 $out = substr($out, 0, -2);
 }
 $out = str_repeat("\t", $indent) . "{\n" . $out;
 $out .= "\n" . str_repeat("\t", $indent) . "}";
 return $out;
}
?> 

• Heitor: Please nevermind!! Now we can just use this: json_encode($array, JSON_PRETTY_PRINT); and be happy!

Answer 18

Below is a pretty simple trick to convert PHP array to JavaScript array:

$array = array("one","two","three");

JS below:

// Use PHP tags for json_encode()
var js_json = json_encode($array);
var js_json_string = JSON.stringify(js_json);
var js_json_array = JSON.parse(js_json_string);
alert(js_json_array.length);

Answer 19

For Laravel user: use @json

var cities = @json($data);

As explained in official docs: https://laravel.com/docs/8.x/blade#rendering-json: