Trying to count the length of an array from JSON list

Question

I am trying to count the length of an array that I converted from JSON using json_decode in php but it is not working for some reason. This is my current code. The JSON list contains an array that has 10,000 items. I am pretty sure that I am missing something. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

PHP

<?php
$fl = file_get_contents($somepath);
$text = json_decode($fl, true);

$len = count($text["alphalist"]);

echo $len;
?>

JSON

{
"alphalist": [{
        "a": "alphabet1."
    }, {
        "b": "alphabet2."
    }, {
        "c": "alphabet3."
    }, {
        "d": "alphabet4."
    }, {
        "e": "alphabet5."
    }
    ....
    {
        "zzzzz": "alphabet10000."
    }
]
}

I have just tested your code and `json_decoding` your `JSON` string returns 5 elements in the array. Are you sure you are posting the full code? — D4V1D, May 31 '15 at 05:31
Sorry. You are right. That is not the full code. The entire json file has 20000 lines. I validated it with online verifiers but I am not sure what the problem is. — blank_kuma, May 31 '15 at 05:35
It returns `null`, but the json list is clearly still there. — blank_kuma, May 31 '15 at 05:38
Let us [continue this discussion in chat](http://chat.stackoverflow.com/rooms/79239/discussion-between-blank-kuma-and-d4v1d). — blank_kuma, May 31 '15 at 05:38
I believe the first thing that you should be verifying is not echo $len, rather what is in $text. — Mox, May 31 '15 at 05:46
Please post the solution to your problem so it can help others and accept the answer within two days :) — D4V1D, May 31 '15 at 05:54

score 1 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:06

The answer was actually here in response to another similar question.

PHP not converting JSON using 'json_decode()'

So after some testing with user D4V1D, it turns out that the problem was due to the PHP function json_decode not working because it wasn't in the UTF-8 format. The workaround for this is

$fl = file_get_contents($somepath);
$text = json_decode(utf8_encode($fl), true);
$len = count($text["alphalist"]);

Now $len will give the correct array length. If there is any error or improvement to be made in my explanation, just place it in the comments and I will correct it accordingly.

Trying to count the length of an array from JSON list

1 Answers1