How can I decode an array formatted in json in php?

Question

I am setting up dialogflow in php to retrieve input from google assistant.

I want to use a parameter I got from dialogflow.

But I don't know how to get it out of the json.

I've already got a function that gets parameters from the json, but it's in a weird format.

How can I get only the pet_name in a variable?

The formats are:

When I use print_r I get:

Array
(
    [pet_name] => gizmo
)

And when I do var_dump I get:

array(1) {
  ["pet_name"]=>
  string(5) "gizmo"
}

Hope this makes it clearer

Did you at least try `json decode php` on Google or something ? — Vincent Decaux, Jul 26 '19 at 15:00
yes, json_decode returns the error: json_decode() expects parameter 1 to be string, array given — Bastiaan Buitelaar, Jul 26 '19 at 15:08
share your code where you are using json_decode and getting error — devpro, Jul 26 '19 at 15:11
@BastiaanBuitelaar then you don't have JSON, you have an array. Treat it like an array. Skip trying to decode it because it's either already been decoded for you, or was never JSON in the first place. — Sammitch, Jul 27 '19 at 00:00
@Sammitch I did think that it was an array, but I used $array->pet_name instead of $array['pet_name']. Rookie mistake — Bastiaan Buitelaar, Jul 27 '19 at 07:35

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 26 '19 at 15:00

1

You can decode a JSON string using json_decode like so:

<?php

$parsed = json_decode("{\"pet_name\":\"gizmo\"}");

print_r($parsed);

answered Jul 26 '19 at 15:00

Chris

json_decode returns the error: json_decode() expects parameter 1 to be string, array given – Bastiaan Buitelaar Jul 26 '19 at 15:09
1

@BastiaanBuitelaar: then it means, u are using wrong way – devpro Jul 26 '19 at 15:10

devpro · Accepted Answer · 2019-07-26T15:27:37.913

1

You can get the name from your index as like:

<?
$string = '{"pet_name":"gizmo"}';
$parsed = json_decode($string);
echo $parsed->pet_name;
?>

if you are using true as a second param in json_decode() then this will return an array and you can get as like:

<?
$string = '{"pet_name":"gizmo"}';
$parsed = json_decode($string,true);
echo $parsed['pet_name'];
?>

edited Jul 26 '19 at 15:27

answered Jul 26 '19 at 15:16

devpro

If the last block of code I posted is my array, how does it work then? – Bastiaan Buitelaar Jul 26 '19 at 15:20
1

@BastiaanBuitelaar: then it will be access as like `echo $parsed['pet_name'];` – devpro Jul 26 '19 at 15:23

Bastiaan Buitelaar · Answer 3 · 2022-07-19T13:22:25.970

1

I eventually did

echo $parameters['pet_name'];

And YES it returned 'gizmo!';

Thanks for the help!

edited Jul 19 '22 at 13:22

answered Jul 26 '19 at 15:27

3 Answers3