How to output a properly formatted JSON from a PHP file?

Question

I have this code:

<?php

    header('Content-Type: text/javascript; charset=UTF-8');
    header('Cache-Control: private, no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate');
    header('Pragma: no-cache');
    header('Expires: Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT');

    $data = array(
        "data" => array(
            "sender" => "Jhon Andrew",
            "recipient" => "Someone OverThe Internet",
            "conversation" =>
            array(
                "unix" => "1234567890",
                "message" => "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet."
            ),
            array(
                "unix" => "0987654321",
                "message" => "Tema tis rolod muspi merol."
            )
        )
    );

    echo json_encode($data);

?>

And I was expecting this kind of result:

{
    "data": {
        "sender":"Jhon Andrew",
        "recipient":"Someone OverThe Internet",
        "message":"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet."
    }
}

But I got it displayed in just one line, like this:

{"data":{"sender":"Jhon Andrew","recipient":"Someone OverThe Internet","message":"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet."}}

How can I get properly formatted JSON output just like what I am expecting? It's not really important actually, but I just want to see the result in good format.

...by the way, I just copied the headers from facebooks graph link because that is how I want to output the result. Example: graph.facebook.com/mOngsAng.gA

It is valid of course. All I want to know is how to output it like this: graph.facebook.com/mOngsAng.gA - As you can see it is properly formatted. I mean it has line breaks and indentions. Unlike what I am getting is just showed in one line.

...by the way, I just copied the headers from facebooks graph link because that is how I want to output the result. Example: graph.facebook.com/mOngsAng.gA — Jhon Andrew
– Jhon Andrew, Commented Nov 29, 2012 at 7:08
@parker.sikand Yes, I did. As you can see in the PHP code I showed. — Jhon Andrew
– Jhon Andrew, Commented Nov 29, 2012 at 7:10
I answered too quickly... I am not sure how to format the way you want. But ultimately the formatting should not matter... your result is perfectly valid JSON... — parker.sikand
– parker.sikand, Commented Nov 29, 2012 at 7:12

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:25:39Z

4

Take a look at JSON_PRETTY_PRINT flag of json_encode() in php manual. You can simply use:

$data = json_encode($data, JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);

If you aren't using PHP 5.4 or greater try with the accepted answer of the question: Pretty-Printing JSON with PHP.

However, yours is a valid json output!

edited May 23, 2017 at 12:25

CommunityBot

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answered Nov 29, 2012 at 7:18

jaco

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2 Comments

Jhon Andrew Over a year ago

This is just what I need however I am getting an error, maybe because of my PHP version. I am now reading the link you gave.

Jhon Andrew Over a year ago

Thanks a lot! I now have my expected result. I just used this PHP function: recursive-design.com/blog/2008/03/11/format-json-with-php - since I am using PHP version lower than 5.4 | And for people has the same as my problem and using PHP 5.4+ "JSON_PRETTY_PRINT" will do the trick. Thanks again! :]

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