null on json data

Question

I am trying to parse this json data from the url but i get NULL how do i fix this issue.

$source = file_get_contents('http://partners.socialvi.be/e414f702cf3db89a2fe58066bbab369d65b6a058/activities/available.json');
$json = json_decode($source);
var_dump($json);

• jerluc: Have you tried echoing the contents of $source before you json_decode() it all?
• JMax: what do you get when you call the url directly before decoding ?
• Gordon: The URL returns onSVJson([]) for me, so no wonder

Answer 1

That's because the API returns the data in JSONP format, not pure JSON. Notice the surrounding onSVJson([]). You'll either have to strip this out, or read the API documentation and try another request format. My guess would be that leaving out the final &callback=onSVJson should do the trick.

Answer 2

That's because if you call the url (go to http://partners.socialvi.be/e414f702cf3db89a2fe58066bbab369d65b6a058/activities/available.json?network_user_id=3459874&max_activities=9&callback=onSVJson with your browser) the json that is returned has no values

Answer 3

Remove the last part of the URL (&callback=onSVJson) and it'll work.

Many APIs offer a feature called JSONP, that allows the JSON to be passed to a callback function, in order to simplify access via cross domain JavaScript. But for PHP you don't need that.

The name of the callback function is typically specified using the callback GET parameter. If you leave that out, no callback function is used - just plain JSON.