How to I format a php array that is returned to javascript via Ajax in this way?

Question

Currently I'm returning a PHP array via Ajax in the form of:

$months = array(November, December, January);

Once I return the value to Javascript I need to format it in this way for it to be compatible with a js Library I'm using:

var months = [[0, "November"], [1, "December"], [2, "January"]];

I tried returning it as an associative array from PHP and json encoding it to which I receive:

[["November"],{"1":"December"},{"2":"January"}]

Why does the index number 0 disappear once json_encoded? And also is this format the same as the one before it?

Mikey · Accepted Answer · 2016-01-20 16:04:30Z

4

Javascript will turn associative arrays into Javscript Objects.

The easiest way to get your format would be to use this array format:

$months = array(
    array(0, 'November'), 
    array(1, 'December'),
    array(2, 'January')
);

That should return the following when it is encoded;

[[0,"November"],[1,"December"],[2,"January"]]

Edit: In terms of creating it dynamically as requested:

$months    = array(); 
$dateRange = array(
    'November' => 1000, 
    'December' => 1500, 
    'January' => 300, 
    'February' => 600
);

$counter = 0;
foreach ($dateRange as $month => $amount) { 
    $months[] = array($counter, $month);
    $counter++; 
} 

echo json_encode($months);

Output: [[0,"November"],[1,"December"],[2,"January"],[3,"February"]]

edited Jan 20, 2016 at 16:04

answered Jan 20, 2016 at 15:18

Mikey

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3 Comments

Miguel V Over a year ago

Thanks it works perfectly in this format. If I may ask, how would I create that array structure programatically? The way I did it was by a loop: $months = array(); $counter = 0; foreach($dateRange as $month => $amount) { $months[] = array($counter => $month); } but once I encode that, I once again am left with the format: [["November"],{"1":"December"},{"2":"January"}], that omits the 0 index and uses curly braces.

Mikey Over a year ago

@MiguelV Updated the answer with some extra information of how you could construct it in the loop. The main thing is not to make it an associative array with $x => $y and just use $x, $y

Miguel V Over a year ago

Thanks, I was doing an associative array instead of two array items. You da best.

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