Recursive Function Not Finding Nested Items

Question

I am getting a json object as a response from a website, and I am trying to find a match to a string, no matter how deep it is nested. Currently, this works for anything in the first level of the object, but as soon as I try something in the second level it does not seem to work. This is my first attempt at a recursive function, so I may just be thinking about it wrong:

foreach($parseObj as $msg) {
    parseBlock($msg,'SEARCH STRING',$refID);
}

function parseBlock($block,$id,&$refID) {
    if (isset($block->data->id)) {
        echo '<b>Parsing: ' . $block->data->id . ':</b><br/> ';
    }
    if (isset($block->data->body)) {
        if (strpos($block->data->body,$id) !== false) {
            echo 'found it - <br/>';
            $refID = $block->data->name;
            return $refID;
        } else {
            echo 'not here<br/>';
        }
    }
    if (isset($block->data->children)) {
        foreach($block->data->children as $msg) {
            parseBlock($msg,$id,$refID);
        }
    }
    if (isset($block->data->replies->data->children)) {
        foreach($block->data->replies->data->children as $msg) {
            parseBlock($msg,$id,$refID);
        }
    }
}

When the item I want is nested 2nd level or deeper, it finds the ID just fine with this line:

echo '<b>Parsing: ' . $block->data->id . ':</b><br/> ';

And I know the string I want ('SEARCH STRING') is listed there because I can see it in a browser, but it tells me "not here"

When it is on the first nesting level, it responds "found it"

How can I make this work for the deeper nested levels?

Here is an example of the JSON object when the item is nested more than 1 level deep:

[
  {
    "kind": "Listing",
    "data": {
      "modhash": "pdyhr8d2dgf5ffd0f279801a563bc45cdfd0fd52fb2caa3c86",
      "children": [
        {
          "kind": "t3",
          "data": {
            "domain": "rankery.com",
            "banned_by": null,
            "media_embed": {

            },
            "subreddit": "test",
            "selftext_html": null,
            "selftext": "",
            "likes": true,
            "suggested_sort": null,
            "user_reports": [

            ],
            "secure_media": null,
            "link_flair_text": null,
            "id": "39tnux",
            "from_kind": null,
            "gilded": 0,
            "archived": false,
            "clicked": false,
            "report_reasons": null,
            "author": "rankery",
            "media": null,
            "name": "t3_39tnux",
            "score": 2,
            "approved_by": null,
            "over_18": false,
            "hidden": false,
            "thumbnail": "default",
            "subreddit_id": "t5_2qh23",
            "edited": false,
            "link_flair_css_class": null,
            "author_flair_css_class": null,
            "downs": 0,
            "mod_reports": [

           ],
            "secure_media_embed": {

            },
            "saved": false,
            "removal_reason": null,
            "from": null,
            "is_self": false,
            "from_id": null,
            "permalink": "/r/test/comments/39tnux/rb_test/",
            "stickied": false,
            "created": 1434307698.0,
            "url": "http://www.rankery.com/redditBot1.php",
            "author_flair_text": null,
            "title": "RB TEST",
            "created_utc": 1434304098.0,
            "ups": 2,
            "upvote_ratio": 1.0,
            "num_comments": 21,
            "visited": false,
            "num_reports": null,
            "distinguished": null
          }
        }
      ],
      "after": null,
      "before": null
    }
 },
  {
    "kind": "Listing",
    "data": {
      "modhash": "pdyhr8d2dgf5ffd0f279801a563bc45cdfd0fd52fb2caa3c86",
      "children": [
        {
          "kind": "t1",
          "data": {
            "subreddit_id": "t5_2qh23",
            "banned_by": null,
            "removal_reason": null,
            "link_id": "t3_39tnux",
            "likes": true,
            "replies": {
             "kind": "Listing",
             "data": {
                "modhash":     "pdyhr8d2dgf5ffd0f279801a563bc45cdfd0fd52fb2caa3c86",
                "children": [
                  {
                    "kind": "t1",
                    "data": {
                     "subreddit_id": "t5_2qh23",
                     "banned_by": null,
                     "removal_reason": null,
                      "link_id": "t3_39tnux",
                      "likes": true,
                      "replies": "",
                      "user_reports": [

                      ],
                     "saved": false,
                      "id": "csrd4vg",
                      "gilded": 0,
                      "archived": false,
                      "report_reasons": null,
                      "author": "rankery",
                      "parent_id": "t1_cspyeux",
                      "score": 1,
                      "approved_by": null,
                      "controversiality": 0,
                      "body": "SEARCH STRING",
                      "edited": 1435959047.0,
                      "author_flair_css_class": null,
                      "downs": 0,
                      "body_html": "&lt;div class=\"md\"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a     href=\"http://www.rankery.com/incl/redditBot/addRanking.phpid=81\"&gt;TEST&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;\n&lt;/div&gt;",
                      "subreddit": "test",
                      "score_hidden": false,
                      "name": "t1_csrd4vg",
                      "created": 1435986571.0,
                      "author_flair_text": null,
                      "created_utc": 1435957771.0,
                     "distinguished": null,
                      "mod_reports": [

                      ],
                      "num_reports": null,
                      "ups": 1
                    }
                  }
                ],
                "after": null,
                "before": null
              }
            },
            "user_reports": [

            ],
            "saved": false,
           "id": "cspyeux",
            "gilded": 0,
            "archived": false,
            "report_reasons": null,
            "author": "rankery",
            "parent_id": "t1_csa56v2",
            "score": 1,
            "approved_by": null,
            "controversiality": 0,
            "body": "Random+String%3A+q6K1CmU5FnpW3JO0ij7d9RYPGeZwl24A",
            "edited": false,
            "author_flair_css_class": null,
            "downs": 0,
            "body_html": "&lt;div class=\"md\"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Random+String%3A+q6K1CmU5FnpW3JO0ij7d9RYPGeZwl24A&lt;/p&gt;\n&lt;/div&gt;",
            "subreddit": "test",
            "score_hidden": false,
            "name": "t1_cspyeux",
            "created": 1435855800.0,
            "author_flair_text": null,
            "created_utc": 1435852200.0,
            "distinguished": null,
            "mod_reports": [

            ],
            "num_reports": null,
            "ups": 1
             }
          }
      ],
      "after": null,
      "before": null
    }
  }
]

EDIT: Added JSON Object Example

EDIT 2: ADDED 'SEARCH STRING' into the JSON object to match the example at the top

When I try it, it says: Parsing: csrd4vg: found it. That ID is nested. — Barmar
– Barmar, Commented Jul 4, 2015 at 4:44
@Barmar Whoa, I wonder why I am getting a different response on my side, thats exactly what I'm trying to get, csrd4vg is right. I guess I'm maybe presenting the search string wrong? the search string is actually a url, do I need to encode it in any way do you think? — radleybobins
– radleybobins, Commented Jul 4, 2015 at 4:50
In the cspyeux object, the body is URL-encoded. You may need to use urlencode($id) when you search for it. — Barmar
– Barmar, Commented Jul 4, 2015 at 4:53

Barmar · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-04 04:55:08Z

2

It looks like body is URL-encoded, so try:

if (strpos(urldecode($block->data->body),$id) !== false) {

answered Jul 4, 2015 at 4:55

Barmar

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1 Comment

radleybobins Over a year ago

Yes, that's exactly what was happening, thanks so much, I'm glad I wasn't too far off with the recursive function in general. You're a lifesaver, I spent way too much time looking for a more complicated error!

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