Getting an array result from json_decode

Question

How do I get an array as a result from json_decode()?

I had an array like this:

$array = array(
  'mod_status' => 'yes',
  'mod_newsnum' => 5
);

and I saved this in database like JSON encode:

{"mod_status":"yes","mod_newsnum":5}

Now I want to get array again from database. But when i use:

$decode = json_decode($dbresult);

I get:

stdClass Object (
  [mod_status] => yes
  [mod_newsnum] => 5
)

Instead of an array. How can I get an array instead of an object?

Answer 1

Set the second parameter of json_decode to true to force associative arrays:

$decode = json_decode($dbresult, true);

Answer 2

As per http://in3.php.net/json_decode:

$decode = json_decode($dbresult, TRUE);

Answer 3

$decode = json_decode($dbresult, true);

Or

$decode = (array)json_decode($dbresult);

Answer 4

Casting the object result of json_decode to an array can have unexpected results (and cause headaches). Because of this, it is recommended to use json_decode($json, true) instead of (array)json_decode($json). Here is an example:

Broken:

<?php

$json = '{"14":"29","15":"30"}';
$data = json_decode($json);
$data = (array)$data;

// Array ( [14] => 29 [15] => 30 )
print_r($data);

// Array ( [0] => 14 [1] => 15 )
print_r(array_keys($data));

// all of these fail
echo $data["14"];
echo $data[14];
echo $data['14'];

// this also fails
foreach(array_keys($data) as $key) {
    echo $data[$key];
}

Working:

<?php

$json = '{"14":"29","15":"30"}';
$data = json_decode($json, true);

// Array ( [14] => 29 [15] => 30 )
print_r($data);

// Array ( [0] => 14 [1] => 15 )
print_r(array_keys($data));

// all of these work
echo $data["14"];
echo $data[14];
echo $data['14'];

// this also works
foreach(array_keys($data) as $key) {
    echo $data[$key];
}

Answer 5

If you only use that data in PHP I recommend using serialize and unserialize instead or else you'll never be able to differentiate between objects and associative arrays, because the object class information is lost when encoding to JSON.

<?php
class myClass{// this information will be lost when JSON encoding //
    public function myMethod(){
        echo 'Hello there!';
    }
}
$x = array('a'=>1, 'b'=>2);
$y = new myClass;
$y->a = 1;
$y->b = 2;
echo json_encode($x), "\n", json_encode($y); // identical
echo "\n", serialize($x), "\n", serialize($y); // not identical
?>

Run it.