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I've encoded an Array I've made using the inbuilt json_encode(); function. I need it in the format of an Array of Arrays like so:
[["Afghanistan",32,12],["Albania",32,12]]However, it is returning as:
{"2":["Afghanistan",32,12],"4":["Albania",32,12]}How can I remove these row numbers without using any regex trickery?
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If the array keys in your PHP array are not consecutive numbers, json_encode() must make the other construct an object since JavaScript arrays are always consecutively numerically indexed.
Use array_values() on the outer structure in PHP to discard the original array keys and replace them with zero-based consecutive numbering:
Example:
// Non-consecutive 3number keys are OK for PHP // but not for a JavaScript array $array = array( 2 => array("Afghanistan", 32, 13), 4 => array("Albania", 32, 12) ); // array_values() removes the original keys and replaces // with plain consecutive numbers $out = array_values($array); json_encode($out); // [["Afghanistan", 32, 13], ["Albania", 32, 12]]
answered Jul 30, 2012 at 12:59
6 Comments
I've ended here when I found out that json_encode converted an array to object for no apparent reason when the array has only one item in it after being filtered by array_filter. I don't know if the array index has something to do with this disgusting php "bug", but array_values sorted it out for me. From now on.. there is no json_encode of an array without array_values being called.
2016-07-13T18:29:36.863Z+00:00
@MarBar If the array has a non-numeric string key or a numeric key out of sequence, json_encode() will produce an {} object rather than an array [] since JavaScript/JSON has no other way to represent such a structure. But yes, you can strip the keys with array_keys() if they are not needed in the resultant json string.
2016-07-13T18:35:00.927Z+00:00
@MichaelBerkowski: i'm getting the same issue with a composite primary key from a db table, where i need to do first: mysqli_fetch_assoc and then array_values... i'm wonder if this is the most performant way to get true arrays with a lot of data ... should i rewrite my custom json_encode? what is your (appreciated) opinion about that?
2017-10-19T20:47:40.657Z+00:00
@deblocker Hard to guess hour composite key fits in. Generally PHP's array_*() functions are all very efficient. On a small array, I generally prefer to use a few single action array_* functions if I can avoid loops. But if your mysqli_result is large you may not want to compile it all into an array at once then call array_values(). Instead you may be better to append rows to an array while fetching. All speculation though because I don't know what your code looks like.
2017-10-19T20:55:39.547Z+00:00
@Gem That depends very much on the structure of the XML you need to create because XML elements must be somehow named. There are examples in stackoverflow.com/questions/1397036/…
2018-11-16T13:42:08.477Z+00:00
json_encode() function will help you to encode array to JSON in php.
if you will use just json_encode function directly without any specific option, it will return an array. Like mention above question
$array = array( 2 => array("Afghanistan",32,13), 4 => array("Albania",32,12) ); $out = array_values($array); json_encode($out); // [["Afghanistan",32,13],["Albania",32,12]]Since you are trying to convert Array to JSON, Then I would suggest to use JSON_FORCE_OBJECT as additional option(parameters) in json_encode, Like below
<?php $array=['apple','orange','banana','strawberry']; echo json_encode($array, JSON_FORCE_OBJECT); // {"0":"apple","1":"orange","2":"banana","3":"strawberry"} ?>answered Apr 23, 2018 at 19:26
I want to add to Michael Berkowski's answer that this can also happen if the array's order is reversed, in which case it's a bit trickier to observe the issue, because in the json object, the order will be ordered ascending.
For example:
[ 3 => 'a', 2 => 'b', 1 => 'c', 0 => 'd' ]Will return:
{ 0: 'd', 1: 'c', 2: 'b', 3: 'a' }So the solution in this case, is to use array_reverse before encoding it to json
10 Comments
I think the array_values solution written by @Michael Berkowski is more universal and it works also in your case.
2020-02-28T18:51:57.333Z+00:00
@mickmackusa I disagree that it should be deleted. While it might not be useful to the OP, it can still be useful to other people with a similar problem.
2021-06-02T10:03:16.9Z+00:00
This was way too long ago. I remember that I just wanted to answer another case that might not be obvious, and if someone has a similar issue, and will scroll through, this will give them a hint. I don't think there's any harm in that. It's true, that one might blindly follow @Michael Berkowski's solution, but if you already think that's not your issue, or trying to understand why is that your issue, then this might be it...
2021-06-02T10:03:48.36Z+00:00
Every answer must only address the question within the scope of the question. Extending the question by altering the sample data is not good -- otherwise we would see loads of pages suffer from scope creep. There are millions of pages here, find a more appropriate page to post this advice on. array_reverse() is absolutely no benefit to the OP's question.
2021-06-02T10:05:59.413Z+00:00
Age of a post is not a factor in this decision. Researchers don't care how old a page/post is. They want the best advice for the given question with no time wasted reading off-topic/irrelevant stuff.
2021-06-02T10:08:32.147Z+00:00
I had a problem with accented characters when converting a PHP array to JSON. I put UTF-8 stuff all over the place but nothing solved my problem until I added this piece of code in my PHP while loop where I was pushing the array:
$es_words[] = array(utf8_encode("$word"),"$alpha","$audio");It was only the '$word' variable that was giving a problem. Afterwards it did a jason_encode no problem.
Hope that helps
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answered Jun 26, 2020 at 22:51
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