If array is empty how do I exclude it from json_encode? (PHP)

Question

I'm building json sub-array structure (from CSV) using the following PHP:

$tracks = array();
foreach ($result['tracks'] as $trackdata) {
    $songId    = $trackdata['songId'];
    $title     = $trackdata['title'];
    $ISRC      = $trackdata['ISRC'];
    $name1     = $trackdata['artists:name[1]'];
    $name2     = $trackdata['artists:name[2]'];
    $main1     = $trackdata['artists:main[1]'];
    $main2     = $trackdata['artists:main[2]'];

    $tracks['tracks'][] = array(
        'songId' => $songId,
        'title' => $title,
        'ISRC' => $ISRC,
        'artists' => array(
            0 => array(
                'name' => $name1,
                'main' => (boolean) $main1
            ),
            1 => array(
                'name' => $name2,
                'main' => (boolean) $main2
            )
        )
    );
}

Currently, if the CSV contains empty values the json (correctly) displays the value as NULL.

What would I need to add to my PHP to stop a particular object from being part of the json if its value is empty / blank?

I'm specifically looking to not print artists:name[2] and artists:main[2] if a second artists doesn't exist in the CSV data.

Here is an example of the CSV code:

"trk-04","track 4","USAM18490006","John Smith",true,,

I've researched (and attempted to implement) if (empty... but I'm not sure where that would come in this code.

Any pointers would be great.

Thanks in advance!

ryanlahue · Accepted Answer · 2013-05-27 21:26:24Z

2

You will want to avoid adding the second artist to the intermediate array that you subsequently json-encode.

$tracks = array();
foreach ($result['tracks'] as $trackdata) {
    $songId    = $trackdata['songId'];
    $title     = $trackdata['title'];
    $ISRC      = $trackdata['ISRC'];
    $name1     = $trackdata['artists:name[1]'];
    $name2     = $trackdata['artists:name[2]'];
    $main1     = $trackdata['artists:main[1]'];
    $main2     = $trackdata['artists:main[2]'];

    $artists = array();
    // First artist always exists
    $artists[] = array('name' => $name1, 'main' => (boolean) $main1);
    // Add second artist only if one exists with a non-null name
    if(!is_null($name2)) {
      $artists[] = array('name' => $name2, 'main' => (boolean) $main2);
    }

    $tracks['tracks'][] = array(
        'songId' => $songId,
        'title' => $title,
        'ISRC' => $ISRC,
        'artists' => $artists
    );
}

You can use the empty function instead of is_null if you wish. It will consider names such as empty strings and the number 0 as not existing. is_null will only catch those which are strictly === null.

answered May 27, 2013 at 21:26

ryanlahue

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1 Comment

AshBestos Over a year ago

This using !empty got me the result I was looking for. Many thanks! :)

Mohammad Masoudian · Accepted Answer · 2013-05-27 21:23:01Z

1

like this :

if (!empty($songId))
{
    $tracks['tracks']['songId'] = $songId;
}
if (!empty($title))
{
    $tracks['tracks']['title'] = $title;
}
and so on ...

answered May 27, 2013 at 21:23

Mohammad Masoudian

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Comments

p91paul · Accepted Answer · 2013-05-27 21:26:55Z

1

$artists[0] = array(
            'name' => $name1,
            'main' => (boolean) $main1
        );
if (!empty($name2)&&!empty($main2))
    $artists[1] = array(
            'name' => $name2,
            'main' => (boolean) $main2
        );
$tracks['tracks'][] = array(
    'songId' => $songId,
    'title' => $title,
    'ISRC' => $ISRC,
    'artists' => $artists
);

answered May 27, 2013 at 21:26

p91paul

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Comments

Orangepill · Accepted Answer · 2013-05-27 21:25:03Z

0

use array_filter to filter out unset date from an array

 // assuming $artist is an array you want to scrub

 $artist = array_filter($artist);
 $track["artists"][] = $artist;

answered May 27, 2013 at 21:25

Orangepill

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Comments

SteAp · Accepted Answer · 2013-05-27 21:28:26Z

0

if (  ( ! isset( artists:name[2] ))
   || ( empty( artists:name[2] ))
   )  {

  unset( $tracks['tracks'][ 'artists' ][ 1 ] );

}

Better

$n = 0;
while( ! empty( $trackdata[ 'artists:name[' . $n+1 . ']' ] )) {

   $tracks['tracks'][ 'artists' ][ $n ][ 'name' ] 
       = $trackdata[ 'artists:name[' . $n+1 . ']' ];

   $tracks['tracks'][ 'artists' ][ $n ][ 'main' ] 
       = $trackdata[ 'artists:main[' . $n+1 . ']' ];

  $n++;

}

edited May 27, 2013 at 21:28

answered May 27, 2013 at 21:23

SteAp

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