file_get_contents return json with extra unexpected characters

Question

I just noticed an odd result with my code:

$data = @file_get_contents($url);  //gets json format from API
return $data;

It returns a random character in front of the first { and after the last }.
Because of this, I cant use json_decode() because the json is now invalid because of the extra characters.

I have checked the actual api url and it doesn't have those random characters.
Why could this be happening?

Note: Sometimes it even returns a black diamond with a white question mark.

I'm reading API's from Steam Community.

I improvised with a temporary fix while im trying to find the code causing the problem.

$data = substr($data, 1, -1);

There seems to be nothing in the urls indeed, content-length is also OK. And it works here... must be something in your files/code I'd say.. — Wrikken, Nov 28 '13 at 21:06
@Wrikken I'm using a library called steam-condenser. I think there is a bug in his codes. I'll try to find it. — madziikoy, Nov 28 '13 at 21:11

score 0 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:05

0

Seems like you have a character encoding issue.

The response header of the api-request:

Content-Type: application/json; charset=UTF-8 
Content-Encoding: gzip

Please have a look at an equivalent issue here.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:05

Community

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answered Nov 28 '13 at 21:15

NiMeDia

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This doesn't seem to be the case. – madziikoy Nov 28 '13 at 21:23

file_get_contents return json with extra unexpected characters

1 Answers1