JSON sent from C# but not received as JSON in php

Question

My purpose is to send JSON from C# to PHP and then further decode it on PHP side to use it for my purpose.
Error at PHP end is:

Warning: json_decode() expects parameter 1 to be string, array given in /home3/alsonsrnd/public_html/test/sync.php on line 24

I am using the following code to send JSON to my PHP code using C#:

  private void sendData()
     {
        var httpWebRequest = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create("http://alnnovative.com/test/sync.php");
        httpWebRequest.ContentType = "text/json";
        httpWebRequest.Method = "POST";

        using (var streamWriter = new StreamWriter(httpWebRequest.GetRequestStream()))
        {
            string json = "{\"user\":\"test\"," +
                          "\"password\":\"bla\"}";

            streamWriter.Write(json);
            streamWriter.Flush();
            streamWriter.Close();
        }

        var httpResponse = (HttpWebResponse)httpWebRequest.GetResponse();
        using (var streamReader = new StreamReader(httpResponse.GetResponseStream()))
        {
            var result = streamReader.ReadToEnd();
        }
    }

On PHP I am using strip slashes and json_decode() in order to decode JSON. My PHP code gives error that the received string is an array instead of JSON and thus it cannot use json_decode to decode it. What could be the reason of it? As I am sending the correct format of JSON from C#

My PHP code is:

if($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] == 'POST')
{
    $json=$_POST;
    if (get_magic_quotes_gpc()){
        $json = stripslashes($json);
    }

    //Decode JSON into an Array
    $data = json_decode($json);
}

Is it a typo - http://screencast.com/t/7bc2MCQpzko4? Seems names of variables not match. — Vnuuk, Oct 29 '15 at 09:57
Can you add a debug line on your PHP server to print out the JSON it receives? (Before and after the slash stripping) — Rob, Oct 29 '15 at 09:58
@Vnuuk yes it was a typo in the question, i have changed it. — Sarah Mandana, Oct 29 '15 at 10:01
@Rob When I am printing it via var_dump() and print_r() it gives Array() — Sarah Mandana, Oct 29 '15 at 10:12
Take a look at this: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3899033/php-how-to-read-post-data-with-no-key — Camo, Oct 29 '15 at 10:13
@Random yes that is the problem. When I am sending JSON, why it is received as an array? — Sarah Mandana, Oct 29 '15 at 10:15
Have a look at @Rinecamo comment, it shows you how to read the $_POST variable. $_POST may contain multiple variables, so it is an array (even if the array contains 1 item in your case) — Random, Oct 29 '15 at 10:16
$_POST ist always an array (or rather a dictionary), that's just how it works. Try giving your json string a key ex. `string json = "json={...}";` and read it with `$_POST['json']` — Camo, Oct 29 '15 at 10:18
I have fix for your situation - instead of WebRequest you can use WebClient - http://screencast.com/t/1rjmTOdt — Vnuuk, Oct 29 '15 at 10:18
I tested your solution with my ASP.NET client - it doesn't work on my end. And then I've tested solution with WebClient - and it receives correct user and password. — Vnuuk, Oct 29 '15 at 10:20
@Vnuuk I have tested with webClient too, but still not receiving anything, just an empty array/ — Sarah Mandana, Oct 29 '15 at 10:39
Look at the first answer here - http://stackoverflow.com/questions/13000386/post-array-empty-on-jquery-ajax-call — Vnuuk, Oct 29 '15 at 10:50
Now I get NULL as the result when I use $data = json_decode( file_get_contents('php://input') ); var_dump($data); — Sarah Mandana, Oct 29 '15 at 11:06
Yes, I can see the same JSOn being sent, when I see it on Debug — Sarah Mandana, Oct 29 '15 at 11:16
@Vnuuk result variable gives: "...object(stdClass)#3 (2) {\n [\"user\"]=>\n string(4) \"test\"\n [\"password\"]=>\n string(3) \"bla\"\n}\n
\nWarning: json_decode() expects parameter 1 to be string, object given in /home3/alsonsrnd/public_html/test/sync.php on line 38
\n[]" — Sarah Mandana, Oct 29 '15 at 11:28

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 29 '15 at 11:58

Firstly, you have to change your Content-Type header

httpWebRequest.ContentType = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded";

Secondly, you are sending data in wrong format

using (var streamWriter = new StreamWriter(httpWebRequest.GetRequestStream()))
            {
                string json = "json=" + "{\"user\":\"test\"," +
                              "\"password\":\"bla\"}"; ;

                streamWriter.Write(json);
                streamWriter.Flush();
                streamWriter.Close();
            }

And finally, you are receiving data in wrong way, $_POST is an array, so

if($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] == 'POST' && isset($_POST['json']))
{
    $json=$_POST['json'];
    if (get_magic_quotes_gpc()){
        $json = stripslashes($json);
    }
    //Decode JSON into an Array
    $data = json_decode($json, true);
}

JSON sent from C# but not received as JSON in php

1 Answers1