Convert php array to javascript utf-8 array

Question

I have a products table that has foreign characters. Now I am trying to use the php array in javascript to narrow a dropdown box as the user types. Everything works except when there is a foreign character (like a carrot or tilde above a letter). How can I encode the the php array into the javascript array with these characters?

$jpro=json_encode($pro, JSON_HEX_APOS|JSON_HEX_QUOT|JSON_UNESCAPED_UNICODE);

var phpPro=<?php echo $jpro; ?>;

The errors Im getting are

var phpPro=;
"Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected token ;"

Answer 1

With JSON_HEX_APOS|JSON_HEX_QUOT you're telling json_encode to convert apostrophes and quotes to \u0027 and \u0022 respectively, but then negate it with JSON_UNESCAPED_UNICODE. And the reason you're getting that error is because you haven't put the PHP code in the variable inside quotes.

Now, since json_encode returns an array with quotes, e.g. [ "Österreich", "Gemüse" ], you can't just place the code inside them, but need to use apostrophes.

Ultimately, the following would be correct*:

$jpro = json_encode($pro, JSON_UNESCAPED_UNICODE);
var phpPro = '<?php echo $jpro; ?>';

Granted, this is going to return a string, not an array if that was your intention. If you want to transform it back to an array, just use JSON.parse:

var phpPro = JSON.parse('<?php echo $jpro; ?>');

* correct in the sense that it does what you're asking, but you really should never mix JavaScript and PHP together — especially not if you're dealing with user input.