Parse a json array in PHP to get the required values

Question

I am using a API provided by this website

http://pnrapi.alagu.net/

By using this API, we can get PNR status of our indian railways.

I am using CURL to make a call and get the page content which is something like this, in an array format:

Array ( [url] => http://pnrapi.alagu.net/api/v1.0/pnr/4563869832 [content_type] => application/json;charset=utf-8 [http_code] => 200 [header_size] => 185 [request_size] => 130 [filetime] => -1 [ssl_verify_result] => 0 [redirect_count] => 0 [total_time] => 2.906 [namelookup_time] => 0 [connect_time] => 0.312 [pretransfer_time] => 0.312 [size_upload] => 0 [size_download] => 548 [speed_download] => 188 [speed_upload] => 0 [download_content_length] => 548 [upload_content_length] => 0 [starttransfer_time] => 2.906 [redirect_time] => 0 [certinfo] => Array ( ) [primary_ip] => 50.57.204.234 [primary_port] => 80 [local_ip] => 192.168.1.10 [local_port] => 60105 [redirect_url] => [errno] => 0 [errmsg] => [content] => {"status":"OK","data":{"train_number":"16178","chart_prepared":false,"pnr_number":"4563869832","train_name":"ROCKFORT EXPRES","travel_date":{"timestamp":1369506600,"date":"26-5-2013"},"from":{"code":"TPJ","name":"TIRUCHIRAPPALLI JUNCTION","time":"22:20"},"to":{"code":"MS","name":"CHENNAI EGMORE","time":"05:15"},"alight":{"code":"MS","name":"CHENNAI EGMORE","time":"05:15"},"board":{"code":"TPJ","name":"TIRUCHIRAPPALLI JUNCTION","time":"22:20","timestamp":1369587000},"class":"2A","passenger":[{"seat_number":"W/L 39,RLGN","status":"W/L 27"}]}} )

but when I go to the URL http://pnrapi.alagu.net/api/v1.0/pnr/4563869832 , it gives me output as shown below:

 {"status":"OK","data":{"train_number":"16178","chart_prepared":false,"pnr_number":"4563869832","train_name":"ROCKFORT EXPRES","travel_date":{"timestamp":1369506600,"date":"26-5-2013"},"from":{"code":"TPJ","name":"TIRUCHIRAPPALLI JUNCTION","time":"22:20"},"to":{"code":"MS","name":"CHENNAI EGMORE","time":"05:15"},"alight":{"code":"MS","name":"CHENNAI EGMORE","time":"05:15"},"board":{"code":"TPJ","name":"TIRUCHIRAPPALLI JUNCTION","time":"22:20","timestamp":1369587000},"class":"2A","passenger":[{"seat_number":"W/L  39,RLGN","status":"W/L  27"}]}}

Now, it seems that output on my web page with curl have got some extra text which is in the start as you can see both the outputs above.

Well, my question is, how can I get the values from above array.

I am talking about the array output which I'm getting on my page using CURL, which looks like this:

Array ( 
[url] => http://pnrapi.alagu.net/api/v1.0/pnr/4563869832 
[content_type] =>     application/json;charset=utf-8 
[http_code] => 200 
[header_size] => 185 
[request_size] =>     130 
[filetime] => -1 
[ssl_verify_result] => 0 
[redirect_count] => 0 
[total_time] => 2.906     
[namelookup_time] => 0 
[connect_time] => 0.312 
[pretransfer_time] => 0.312 
[size_upload] => 0 
[size_download] => 548 
[speed_download] => 188 
[speed_upload] => 0 
[download_content_length] => 548 
[upload_content_length] => 0 
[starttransfer_time] => 2.906 
[redirect_time] => 0 
[certinfo] => Array ( ) 
[primary_ip] => 50.57.204.234 
[primary_port] => 80 
[local_ip] => 192.168.1.10 
[local_port] => 60105 
[redirect_url] => 
[errno] => 0 
[errmsg] => [content] => {"status":"OK","data":{"train_number":"16178","chart_prepared":false,"pnr_number":"4563869832","train_name":"ROCKFORT EXPRES","travel_date":{"timestamp":1369506600,"date":"26-5-2013"},"from":{"code":"TPJ","name":"TIRUCHIRAPPALLI JUNCTION","time":"22:20"},"to":{"code":"MS","name":"CHENNAI EGMORE","time":"05:15"},"alight":{"code":"MS","name":"CHENNAI EGMORE","time":"05:15"},"board":{"code":"TPJ","name":"TIRUCHIRAPPALLI JUNCTION","time":"22:20","timestamp":1369587000},"class":"2A","passenger":[{"seat_number":"W/L 39,RLGN","status":"W/L 27"}]}} )

Code in my PHP page is:

    <?php
function get_web_page( $url )
{
$options = array(
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,     // return web page
    CURLOPT_HEADER         => false,    // don't return headers
    CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION => true,     // follow redirects
    CURLOPT_ENCODING       => "",       // handle all encodings
    CURLOPT_USERAGENT      => "spider", // who am i
    CURLOPT_AUTOREFERER    => true,     // set referer on redirect
    CURLOPT_CONNECTTIMEOUT => 120,      // timeout on connect
    CURLOPT_TIMEOUT        => 120,      // timeout on response
    CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS      => 10,       // stop after 10 redirects
);

$ch      = curl_init( $url );
curl_setopt_array( $ch, $options );
$content = curl_exec( $ch );
$err     = curl_errno( $ch );
$errmsg  = curl_error( $ch );
$header  = curl_getinfo( $ch );
curl_close( $ch );

$header['errno']   = $err;
$header['errmsg']  = $errmsg;
$header['content'] = $content;
return $header;
}
$pnr = get_web_page('http://pnrapi.alagu.net/api/v1.0/pnr/4563869832');
echo "<code>";
print_r($pnr);
echo "</code>";
?>

I only need the values under "content" which are train number, train name, travel date etc.

So, what would be best way to extract this information into each variable?

Like I want it like this:

$train_no   = [some code];
$train_name = [some_code];

and so on...

Thanks in advance.

I tried this:

echo $pnr['content'];

and the output I got is:

{"status":"OK",    
"data":"train_number":"16178",
"chart_prepared":false,
"pnr_number":"4563869832",
"train_name":"ROCKFORT EXPRES",
"travel_date":{"timestamp":1369506600,"date":"26-5-2013"},
"from":{"code":"TPJ","name":"TIRUCHIRAPPALLI JUNCTION","time":"22:20"},
"to":{"code":"MS","name":"CHENNAI EGMORE","time":"05:15"},
"alight":{"code":"MS","name":"CHENNAI EGMORE","time":"05:15"},
"board":{"code":"TPJ","name":"TIRUCHIRAPPALLI JUNCTION","time":"22:20","timestamp":1369587000},
"class":"2A","passenger":[{"seat_number":"W/L 39,RLGN","status":"W/L 27"}]}}

Now can any one give me an idea about how can I fetch unique values from above array?

Bjarke H. Søndergaard · Accepted Answer · 2013-05-17 18:19:49Z

1

I'm not sure where the JSON string is. But let's say it's the $pnr variable.

$json = json_decode($pnr, true);
$train_no = $json["data"]["train_number"];
$train_name = $json["data"]["train_name"];

Updated: If you don't need all the other things you can do something like the following:

$npr = file_get_contents(url);

and then run the code above.

edited May 17, 2013 at 18:19

answered May 17, 2013 at 12:43

Bjarke H. Søndergaard

1,2189 silver badges14 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

4 Comments

Mekey Salaria Over a year ago

Sorry, it gives me this warning: Warning: json_decode() expects parameter 1 to be string,

Bjarke H. Søndergaard Over a year ago

Updated my response. I'm not entirely sure what you need the get_web_page for.

Mekey Salaria Over a year ago

Thank You BjarkeHS, Your code works perfect to some extent but Now I got this: Fatal error: Cannot use object of type stdClass as array in C:\wamp\www\PNR\index.php on line 52 Any idea?

Mekey Salaria Over a year ago

Cheers, I found out the solutions with minor tweak to your code. i tried this: $json = json_decode($pnr,true); Thank you so much! You are the man ;)

jterry · Accepted Answer · 2013-05-17 13:01:42Z

0

You're looking through the header, where you should be looking at the content. Return $content instead in your function and then you can parse out the response:

function get_web_page( $url ) {
    $options = array(
        CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,     // return web page
        CURLOPT_HEADER         => false,    // don't return headers
        CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION => true,     // follow redirects
        CURLOPT_ENCODING       => "",       // handle all encodings
        CURLOPT_USERAGENT      => "spider", // who am i
        CURLOPT_AUTOREFERER    => true,     // set referer on redirect
        CURLOPT_CONNECTTIMEOUT => 120,      // timeout on connect
        CURLOPT_TIMEOUT        => 120,      // timeout on response
        CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS      => 10,       // stop after 10 redirects
    );

    $ch = curl_init( $url );
    curl_setopt_array( $ch, $options );
    $content = json_decode( curl_exec( $ch ) );

    curl_close( $ch );

    return array(
        'train_no' => $content->data->train_number,
        'train_name' => $content->data->train_name,
    );
}

$pnr = get_web_page('http://pnrapi.alagu.net/api/v1.0/pnr/4563869832');

echo "<pre>" . print_r($pnr, true) . "</pre>";

answered May 17, 2013 at 13:01

jterry

6,2473 gold badges32 silver badges37 bronze badges

2 Comments

jterry Over a year ago

You can also greatly reduce your options unless you need them for some reason- the only one you actually need is CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER.

Mekey Salaria Over a year ago

Thank you very much jterry for your suggestions, I have removed all options except CURL_RETURNTRANSFER But I'm afraid, I'm still getting this error:

( ! ) Warning: json_decode() expects parameter 1 to be string, array given in C:\wamp\www\PNR\index.php on line 55 Call Stack #	Time	Memory	Function	Location 1	0.0011	144848	{main}( )	..\index.php:0 2	3.2365	145616	json_decode ( )	..\index.php:55

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Parse a json array in PHP to get the required values

2 Answers 2

4 Comments

2 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

4 Comments

2 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related