Why is json_decode output always null?

Question

i have an issue where when i do a return $record in my function below i get valid json in postman pretty view but if i try print_r($record) i have a null at the end of the json.

Then when i try to json_decode the out put is always null for some reason.

If anyone has any ideas why this might be happening i am greatful for your input.

Thanks

function webhook_listener($request_data){
        $client = new ZohoCRMClient('Contacts', 'API key Here');

        $parameters = $request_data->get_params();

        if( !isset( $parameters['contactId'] ) || empty($parameters['contactId']) ){
            file_put_contents(plugin_dir_path( __FILE__ ).'invalid.txt', 'No parameter found');
            return array( 'error' => 'no_parameter_given' );
        }else{
            $companyid = $parameters['contactId'];

            //file_put_contents(plugin_dir_path( __FILE__ ).'crm.txt', $parameters);

            $record = $client->getRecordById()->id($companyid)->request();

            $record = json_decode($record);

            $error = json_last_error();
            if ($error !== JSON_ERROR_NONE) {
                throw new RuntimeException("JSON decode error: $error");
            }

            echo $company = $record[1]['data']['Company'];

        }

    }

JSON:

{"1":{"index":1,"data":{"CONTACTID":"3345923000000546002","SMOWNERID":"3345923000000158021","Contact Owner":"Frank Rosa","First Name":"Administrator","Last Name":"Ian","Email":"poojarajan3ellc@gmail.com","Created Time":"2018-09-19 14:32:35","Modified Time":"2018-09-20 02:48:51","Full Name":"Administrator Ian","Description":"Equity and Empowerment through Education. It is the Mission of 3e LLC to promote equity and empowerment for all students through engaging professional development for educators and parents, one-on-one coaching for teacher efficacy, and mentoring services for youth to promote enrichment and success. For the empowered, we offer editing, transcribing, and ghostwriting services to ensure your voice is heard.","Last Activity Time":"2018-09-20 02:48:51","Instagram Url":"http:\/\/www.instagram.com\/3e_llc","Company":"3ELLC","Website":"https:\/\/www.3ellc.org","Phone_1":"(727) 420-1050","Full Address":"2152 Arcadia Rd, Holiday, FL 34690, USA","Facebook Url":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/3eLLC\/","Logo Url":"https:\/\/dev.energypages.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/header-logo-57.png","Twitter Url":"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/3e_llc","Membership Level":"Basic","Select Service":"Technology","User ID":"347"}}}

var_dump output:

array(1) {
  [1]=>
  object(CristianPontes\ZohoCRMClient\Response\Record)#2068 (2) {
    ["index"]=>
    int(1)
    ["data"]=>
    array(22) {
      ["CONTACTID"]=>
      string(19) "3345923000000546002"
      ["SMOWNERID"]=>
      string(19) "3345923000000158021"
      ["Contact Owner"]=>
      string(10) "Frank Rosa"
      ["First Name"]=>
      string(13) "Administrator"
      ["Last Name"]=>
      string(3) "Ian"
      ["Email"]=>
      string(25) "poojarajan3ellc@gmail.com"
      ["Created Time"]=>
      string(19) "2018-09-19 14:32:35"
      ["Modified Time"]=>
      string(19) "2018-09-20 02:48:51"
      ["Full Name"]=>
      string(17) "Administrator Ian"
      ["Description"]=>
      string(407) "Equity and Empowerment through Education. It is the Mission of 3e LLC to promote equity and empowerment for all students through engaging professional development for educators and parents, one-on-one coaching for teacher efficacy, and mentoring services for youth to promote enrichment and success. For the empowered, we offer editing, transcribing, and ghostwriting services to ensure your voice is heard."
      ["Last Activity Time"]=>
      string(19) "2018-09-20 02:48:51"
      ["Instagram Url"]=>
      string(31) "http://www.instagram.com/3e_llc"
      ["Company"]=>
      string(5) "3ELLC"
      ["Website"]=>
      string(21) "https://www.3ellc.org"
      ["Phone_1"]=>
      string(14) "(727) 420-1050"
      ["Full Address"]=>
      string(39) "2152 Arcadia Rd, Holiday, FL 34690, USA"
      ["Facebook Url"]=>
      string(30) "http://www.facebook.com/3eLLC/"
      ["Logo Url"]=>
      string(73) "https://dev.energypages.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/header-logo-57.png"
      ["Twitter Url"]=>
      string(29) "http://www.twitter.com/3e_llc"
      ["Membership Level"]=>
      string(5) "Basic"
      ["Select Service"]=>
      string(10) "Technology"
      ["User ID"]=>
      string(3) "347"
    }
  }
}
null

Output above is the raw view in postman. and in pretty view i got this error (Unexpected 'a')

http://us3.php.net/manual/en/function.json-last-error-msg.php — Sammitch, Sep 21 '18 at 19:09
Have you logged the value of `$client->getRecordById()->id($companyid)->request()` somewhere? — ceejayoz, Sep 21 '18 at 19:12
`json_decode()` returns an object and you're trying to access the data as an array, you need to pass `true` as the second argument if you want an associative array — billyonecan, Sep 21 '18 at 19:13
@ceejayoz if i return $client->getRecordById()->id($companyid)->request() i get the json in my post but if i do a echo i get an (Arraynull) — Dian Reid, Sep 21 '18 at 19:17
@billyonecan i still get an output of null with the true argument — Dian Reid, Sep 21 '18 at 19:19
Turn on error_reporting (https://stackoverflow.com/a/21429652/845034). — steffen, Sep 21 '18 at 19:22
I suspect if you do `var_dump($client->getRecordById()->id($companyid)->request());` you'll see your problem. — miken32, Sep 21 '18 at 19:26
Does that look like something that `json_decode` can make sense of? — miken32, Sep 21 '18 at 19:34
I guess that would be a question for the documentation of whatever library is providing the data. — miken32, Sep 21 '18 at 19:37
@miken32 it's dummy data and will be removed from the system — Dian Reid, Sep 21 '18 at 19:38

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 24 '18 at 07:11

All the answers here on how to parse jSON were correct. But i was using a php library for my link to zoho which handles the data differently, so i had to do a foreach on my response from the API then json_encode() the data and json_decode() to get the values.

Library i am using: https://github.com/cristianpontes/zoho-crm-client-php

foreach($record as $records){
            $payload = $records->getData();
            $payload = json_encode($payload);
            $payload = json_decode($payload, true);

            $error = json_last_error();
            if ($error !== JSON_ERROR_NONE) {
                throw new RuntimeException("JSON decode error: $error");
            }

            $company = $payload['Company'];
}

Thanks to everyone that helped especially @miken32

Why is json_decode output always null?

1 Answers1