Parsing JSON: multi-level array

Question

I need to get an item from the json output however the json contents aren't always consistent.

For example if I wanted get the value for "name" it would be ['result']['attributes'][0]['name'];

But in the event that the json is delivered as the second example it would be ['result']['attributes'][1]['name'];

{"result":{
    "attributes":[
        {"user":"newb","name":"mike"},
        {"state":"california","city":"los angeles"}
    ]
}}

{"result":{
    "attributes":[
        {"state":"california","city":"los angeles"},
        {"user":"newb","name":"mike"}
    ]
}}

How would I get the "name" value if the index of the array it's in is unknown?

That's unfortunate. I would at least file a bug report with the 3rd party, as the attributes property is not designed very well; instead of an array of bizarrely-grouped attributes, it should just be an object with each attribute declared separately. i.e.: {"result":{"attributes":{"user":"newb","name":"mike","state":"california","city":"los angeles"}}} — Shaggy Frog
– Shaggy Frog, Commented Jun 6, 2012 at 5:28

Bergi · Accepted Answer · 2012-06-06 05:31:17Z

3

var arr = obj.result.attributes;
for (var i=0; i<arr.length; i++)
    if ("name" in arr[i])
         return arr[i].name;

or, if it's always only the two objects in the array:

 var attrs = obj.result.attributes;
 return attrs["name" in attrs[0] ? 0 : 1].name;

But I would insist on a change in that api, the two objects should be just merged.

EDIT: Sorry, here comes the PHP:

$attrs = json_decode($jsonStr, true)["result"]["attributes"];
return $attrs[ isset($attrs[0]["name"]) ? 0 : 1 ];

edited Jun 6, 2012 at 5:31

answered Jun 6, 2012 at 5:20

Bergi

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3 Comments

David Harkness Over a year ago

I believe the OP wants a PHP solution--not Javascript.

Bergi Over a year ago

Uh, why do I always think "JavaScript" when it's highlighted as "JSON"? :-(

Mike Mills Over a year ago

Yes, I'm developing in PHP. Sorry for any confusion.

David Harkness · Accepted Answer · 2012-06-06 06:00:35Z

1

This will return the index into the attributes array that contains the object with a name attribute of "mike".

function extractNameFromJson($json) {
    foreach ($json->result->attributes as $i => $attribute) {
        if (isset($attribute['name']) && $attribute['name'] == 'mike') {
            return $i;
        }
    }
}

$index = extractNameFromJson($json);
echo $json->result->attributes[$index]['user'];

==> newb

edited Jun 6, 2012 at 6:00

answered Jun 6, 2012 at 5:29

David Harkness

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5 Comments

Mike Mills Over a year ago

I need the index of the attribute mike would be in. I am trying to write a function where I can get the value of user where name = mike. That way in the event both attributes contained the same user but different names.

David Harkness Over a year ago

@MikeMills - Is this what you meant?

Mike Mills Over a year ago

It's a bit closer to what I need. Lets say in the json there is a key in the attributes called "fieldid" and the value of that is "372", and in every attribute there is a key called "value" and I need to get the value of the "value" key where fieldid == 372.

Mike Mills Over a year ago

something like: function getfieldid($json, [fieldid value]){ $djson = json_decode($json, true); //code to find value of key "value" where key "fieldid" == [fieldid value] }

Mike Mills Over a year ago

function Getfieldid($json, $fid) { $djson = json_decode($json, true); foreach ($djson['result']['attributes'] as $i => $attribute) { if (isset($attribute['fieldId']) && $attribute['fieldId'] == $fid) { return $djson['result']['attributes'][$i]['value']; } } } It's working now, thanks David :)

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