PHP json_decode youtube api (array)

Question

I'm trying to decode the youtube api. I don't need everything, just a few pieces, but I'm having trouble with the "items" array.

My code is very very simple.

$url = file_get_contents("THIS IS MY YOUTUBE API ENDPOINT");
$json = json_decode($url, true);

If I echo out

echo $json['kind']."<p>".$json['etag']."<p>".$json['nextPageToken']."<p>";
echo $json['pageInfo']['totalResults']."<p>".$json['pageInfo']['resultsPerPage'];

Then I would see:

youtube#activityListResponse
that super long etag that I don't feel like typing
CAEQAA
10
1

But I want the information within ITEMS

If I try print_r($json['items'][0]); Then I get ALL of the information from items as an array, spit out like this

If I try foreach($json['items'][0] as $key=>$value){ echo $value; }

Then I get: Notice: Array to string conversion <-- Not what I want

What I want is something like

echo $json['items']['snippet']['title'];

(But of course, that doesn't work)

Possible duplicate of [Reference - What does this error mean in PHP?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/12769982/reference-what-does-this-error-mean-in-php) — Spoody, Apr 22 '18 at 23:39
in the `items` array, sometimes `$value` is an array, or an object, depending on the way you json_decode it. That is what the error message is telling you. You can try something like foreach items, then access the snippet as you want to do. — Félix Adriyel Gagnon-Grenier, Apr 23 '18 at 00:11

Obsidian Age · Accepted Answer · 2018-04-22T23:43:06.347

2

It sounds like you're simply looking for echo $json['items'][0]['snippet']['title'];.

If you want to loop over them, this can be done with array_walk():

function myfunction($value, $key)
{
    echo "The key $key has the value $value<br />";
}

array_walk($json, "myfunction");

Also note that your two lines:

echo $json['kind']."<p>".$json['etag']."<p>".$json['nextPageToken']."<p>";
echo $json['pageInfo']['totalResults']."<p>".$json['pageInfo']['resultsPerPage'];

Are invalid HTML; you cannot have a <p> tag nested within another <p> tag; don't forget to close them off with </p>.

edited Apr 22 '18 at 23:43

answered Apr 22 '18 at 23:39

Obsidian Age

41,205
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Yes thank you! That's what I was looking for, and I can't believe I hadn't even thought of that. I feel like a herp derp. As to your second note, I appreciate it and yes I am aware. I'm just throwing out test code (not really worried about doing everything perfect atm) – Nicholette Liguori Apr 22 '18 at 23:42
@NicholetteLiguori accept this answer if this did helped you solve your problem, tick the check if its resolved – Kevin Apr 23 '18 at 01:01
Ah yes, I figured out the rest of what I needed too. Ty – Nicholette Liguori Apr 23 '18 at 01:16

PHP json_decode youtube api (array)

1 Answers1