Solved

returning an element from JSON

Posted on 2013-05-20

1 solution

Medium Priority

379 Views

Last Modified: 2013-06-03

Im trying to get just 1 element from a JSON request:-

switch (json_decode($rowNewInput['json'])['type']) {

Open in new window

The contents of "$rowNewInput['json']" are:-

{
"type" : "combo",
"attribute" : "SQL",
"values" : "Select distinct `First Name` from `staff`;"
}

And all I want is the 'combo' value.

Although I could decode the JSON into a variable and then pull the variable out of the created array, I was hoping to do it all on one line.

However I get an error to saying:-

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '['

Any suggestions what Im doing wrong?

Thanks in advance.

Comment

Question by:tonelm54

2 Comments

LVL 111

Accepted Solution

by:Ray Paseur

Ray Paseur earned 2000 total points

ID: 391807472013-05-20

JSON uses object-oriented notation, not array notation. Try the -> instead of the brackets and quotes.

Also, trying to "do it all on one line" is a fools errand. That kind of code makes it harder to debug and understand the data structures. Use as many statements as needed, no less, no more!
http://www.laprbass.com/RAY_temp_tonelm54.php

<?php // RAY_temp_tonelm54.php
error_reporting(E_ALL);

$jso = <<<EOD
{
"type" : "combo",
"attribute" : "SQL",
"values" : "Select distinct `First Name` from `staff`;"
}
EOD;

// DECODE THE STRING INTO AN OBJECT
$obj = json_decode($jso);

// ACTIVATE THIS TO SEE WHAT IS IN THE OBJECT
// var_dump($obj);

// WHAT IS IN THE type PROPERTY
var_dump($obj->type);

Open in new window

Best regards, ~Ray

LVL 35

Expert Comment

by:Slick812

ID: 391822702013-05-20

greetings tonelm54, , not sure about how you "think" about the methods you use in your code, as you have a PHP ['type'] array access for what you have as a javascript object in the javascript object notation string. I have to work in PHP and javascript at the same time to build pages, and often get mixed up in the code syntax for each,
In javascript you are allowed to access OBJECT properties with array methods like - jsobj['type'] - , but in PHP this is not allowed, , I often forget which Object access to use, and put -> in javascript and put a "." in PHP, which causes fatal errors in either one.
If you are used to javascript, you will need to watch your code when changing to PHP code writing, as many things like ['type'] for object access will get you -
Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '['

and -
switch (json_decode($rowNewInput['json'])->type) {
just might work

but if I forget and use -
switch (json_decode($rowNewInput['json']).type) {
it does Not work.

for your own development error trace, I have found that compound abstraction code like -
switch (json_decode($rowNewInput['json'])->type) {
is harder to debug.

I like this better for debugging -
$newIn = json_decode($rowNewInput['json']);
switch ($newIn->type) {
because you can more clearly see what line and method causes the error

Featured Post

Question has a verified solution.

Are you are experiencing a similar issue? Get a personalized answer when you ask a related question.

Have a better answer? Share it in a comment.

Join & Write a Comment Already a member? Login.

Password Hashing in PHP

Article by: Ray

Password hashing is better than message digests or encryption, and you should be using it instead of message digests or encryption. Find out why and how in this article, which supplements the original article on PHP Client Registration, Login, Logo…

7 Sure Fire Ways To Improve Your Web Performance Strategy

Article by: Anush

Originally, this post was published on Monitis Blog, you can check it here . In business circles, we sometimes hear that today is the “age of the customer.” And so it is. Thanks to the enormous advances over the past few years in consumer techno…

Validation of Email Addresses with Regular Expressions

Video by: Terry

Explain concepts important to validation of email addresses with regular expressions. Applies to most languages/tools that uses regular expressions. Consider email address RFCs: Look at HTML5 form input element (with type=email) regex pattern: T…