PHP regex parse data between [ ]

Question

I've a string that I want to convert to a valid JSON and then json_decode it. Here's what the string looks like:

[
    ['test', 'lol'],
    ['test2', 'lol2']
]
[
    ['test32', 'loDl'],
    ['test32', 'loDl2']
]
[
    ['tes23t', 'loDEl'],
    ['testDE2', 'lolDE2']
]

I want to get only the data between each

[

]

so the result might to be:

['test', 'lol'],
['test2', 'lol2'],
['test32', 'loDl'],
['test32', 'loDl2'],
['tes23t', 'loDEl'],
['testDE2', 'lolDE2']

so I think that I need to use regex and preg_split, here's what I did:

$jsons = preg_split('/\]\s*(?=\[)/', $data, null);
$jsond = "";
foreach ($jsons as $json) {
     $json .= "";
     $jsond .= $json;
} 
return $jsond;

but It's not working, I still can't have the data beetween each [ ]
How can I do that ?
Thanks in advance

PS: here's the real full string https://paste.ee/r/RN7rK

since you seems to have a lot of data that comes from an huge file, I suggest to not use a global regex for the whole content, but to work with a stream. — Casimir et Hippolyte
– Casimir et Hippolyte, Commented Feb 6, 2016 at 14:25
Well, why not try \[([^\][]*)] regex, grab $matches[1] and do whatever you please with them? — Wiktor Stribiżew
– Wiktor Stribiżew, Commented Feb 6, 2016 at 14:43
While the link you point to is valid JSON, the example you give in your question is not. JSON wraps text in double-quotes, not single quotes. — trincot
– trincot, Commented Feb 6, 2016 at 14:50
@trincot when I try to validate the json that i've point in the link, it returns an error using jsonlint.com — user5672329
– user5672329, Commented Feb 6, 2016 at 14:58

trincot · Accepted Answer · 2016-02-07 10:38:05Z

2

The string you pointed to has valid JSON on each line. However, all the lines together do not represent one valid JSON.

I propose to manipulate the data in a minimal way to make the whole text JSON with a simple regular expression. If the original data is in $data, then create the JSON as follows:

$json = preg_replace('/(\])\](\R)\[/', '$1,$2', $data);

This will remove both the closing bracket at the end of a line, and the opening one at the start of the next line. Instead a comma is inserted. The result will be valid JSON, as the opening bracket right at the start now matches with the very final closing bracket.

I took some representative text from your data:

$data = '[["s","13","shelves_norja","49500","0","1","1","#ffffff,#F7EBBC","Beige Bookcase","For nic naks and books.","","5","true","-1","false","","1","true","0","0","0","false"],["s","117","table_plasto_round*9","45508","0","2","2","#ffffff,#533e10","Round Dining Table","Hip plastic furniture","","-1","false","-1","false","","1","false","0","0","0","false"]]
[["s","118","table_plasto_square*9","45508","0","1","1","#ffffff,#533e10","Occasional Table","Hip plastic furniture","","-1","false","-1","false","","1","false","0","0","0","false"],["s","119","chair_plasto*9","45508","0","1","1","#ffffff,#533e10,#ffffff,#533e10","Chair","Hip plastic furniture","","-1","false","-1","false","","1","false","0","1","0","false"],["s","120","carpet_standard*6","48082","0","3","5","#777777","Floor Rug","Available in a variety of colors","","105","true","-1","false","","1","true","1","0","0","false"],["s","121","chair_plasty*1","45508","0","1","1","#ffffff,#8EB5D1,#ffffff,#8EB5D1","Plastic Pod Chair","Hip plastic furniture","","-1","false","-1","false","","1","false","0","1","0","false"]]';

It just has two lines, to limit the data a bit. Now the above code produces this result, pretty printed:

[
    [
        "s",
        "13",
        "shelves_norja",
        "49500",
        "0",
        "1",
        "1",
        "#ffffff,#F7EBBC",
        "Beige Bookcase",
        "For nic naks and books.",
        "",
        "5",
        "true",
        "-1",
        "false",
        "",
        "1",
        "true",
        "0",
        "0",
        "0",
        "false"
    ],
    [
        "s",
        "117",
        "table_plasto_round*9",
        "45508",
        "0",
        "2",
        "2",
        "#ffffff,#533e10",
        "Round Dining Table",
        "Hip plastic furniture",
        "",
        "-1",
        "false",
        "-1",
        "false",
        "",
        "1",
        "false",
        "0",
        "0",
        "0",
        "false"
    ],
    [
        "s",
        "118",
        "table_plasto_square*9",
        "45508",
        "0",
        "1",
        "1",
        "#ffffff,#533e10",
        "Occasional Table",
        "Hip plastic furniture",
        "",
        "-1",
        "false",
        "-1",
        "false",
        "",
        "1",
        "false",
        "0",
        "0",
        "0",
        "false"
    ],
    [
        "s",
        "119",
        "chair_plasto*9",
        "45508",
        "0",
        "1",
        "1",
        "#ffffff,#533e10,#ffffff,#533e10",
        "Chair",
        "Hip plastic furniture",
        "",
        "-1",
        "false",
        "-1",
        "false",
        "",
        "1",
        "false",
        "0",
        "1",
        "0",
        "false"
    ],
    [
        "s",
        "120",
        "carpet_standard*6",
        "48082",
        "0",
        "3",
        "5",
        "#777777",
        "Floor Rug",
        "Available in a variety of colors",
        "",
        "105",
        "true",
        "-1",
        "false",
        "",
        "1",
        "true",
        "1",
        "0",
        "0",
        "false"
    ],
    [
        "s",
        "121",
        "chair_plasty*1",
        "45508",
        "0",
        "1",
        "1",
        "#ffffff,#8EB5D1,#ffffff,#8EB5D1",
        "Plastic Pod Chair",
        "Hip plastic furniture",
        "",
        "-1",
        "false",
        "-1",
        "false",
        "",
        "1",
        "false",
        "0",
        "1",
        "0",
        "false"
    ]
]

edited Feb 7, 2016 at 10:38

answered Feb 6, 2016 at 14:44

trincot

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6 Comments

user5672329 Over a year ago

Not working, call_user_func_array() expects parameter 2 to be array, null given

trincot Over a year ago

I updated my answer. I found the original text has valid JSON on each line, but the line-breaks also represent the end of a JSON string and the start of a new one. I added code in my answer to turn that into one large JSON. Let me know how this works for you.

user5672329 Over a year ago

No that wasn't this, I need to open and close [ ] for each "data"

trincot Over a year ago

Then the result of the preg_replace must be what you need. I updated my answer including the output of that statement. Can you check?

user5672329 Over a year ago

Working answer, that was what I'm looking for, thanks

|

Casimir et Hippolyte · Accepted Answer · 2016-02-06 18:28:20Z

1

If you have a lot of data and have to preserve memory, you can use something like this:

function genArrayFromFHandler($fh) {
    $state = 0; // (1: main brackets, 2: nested brackets, 3: quotes)
    while(!feof($fh)) {
        $c = fgetc($fh);

        switch($c):
            case '[':
                if ($state) $array = [];
                $state++;
                break;

            case ']':
                if ($state == 2) yield $array;
                $state--;
                break;

            case '"':
                if ($state == 2) {
                    $state++;
                    $item = '';
                } else {
                    $state--;
                    $array[] = $item;
                }
                break;

            default:
                if ($state == 3) $item .= $c;                

        endswitch;
    }
}

try {
    $fh = fopen('yourfile.txt', 'r');// or die ('error opening file');
    if (!$fh) throw new Exception('File open failed.');

    foreach (genArrayFromFHandler($fh) as $arr) {
        // do all what you need with the array here
        print_r($arr);
    }

    fclose($fh);

} catch (Exception $e) {
    echo $e->getMessage() . PHP_EOL;
}

This isn't a fast method but the memory footprint is very low since the file is never fully loaded in memory.

Note I don't know what you want to do with your data and if converting them to JSON is a good idea (JSON is useful to share data between apps, but if you want something you can easily and efficiently querying, it's better to use a database.)

edited Feb 6, 2016 at 18:28

answered Feb 6, 2016 at 15:34

Casimir et Hippolyte

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4 Comments

user5672329 Over a year ago

I get the data with curl, so I have an error "exepted to be ressource, string given"

Casimir et Hippolyte Over a year ago

@Mrz: If it is a simple url, put it as fopen first parameter (instead of yourfile.txt). You can also set options with stream_context_create.

user5672329 Over a year ago

I get this with curl beacause the website block PHP user agent

Casimir et Hippolyte Over a year ago

@MrZ: you can override the user agent with stream_context_create and send another one.

David Kuna · Accepted Answer · 2016-02-06 14:30:00Z

0

This is also possible solution:

$data = preg_replace('/\s+/', '', $data);
$data = str_replace("[[", "[", $data);
$jsons = str_replace("]]", "]", $data);

echo $jsons

['test','lol'],['test2','lol2']['test32','loDl'],['test32','loDl2']['tes23t','loDEl'],['testDE2','lolDE2']

answered Feb 6, 2016 at 14:30

David Kuna

945 bronze badges

1 Comment

user5672329 Over a year ago

Got an error Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in

IaMaCuP · Accepted Answer · 2016-02-06 14:36:27Z

0

<?php

  $data = "[
      ['test', 'lol'],
      ['test2', 'lol2']
  ]
  [
      ['test32', 'loDl'],
      ['test32', 'loDl2']
  ]
  [
      ['tes23t', 'loDEl'],
      ['testDE2', 'lolDE2']
  ]";

  $matches = array();
  preg_match_all('/\[(.*?)\]/', $data, $matches);
  $json = '';

  foreach ($matches[0] as &$val) 
  {
      $json .= $val.',';
  } 

  $json = substr($json, 0, strlen($json)-1);

?>

will output:

['test', 'lol'],['test2', 'lol2'],['test32', 'loDl'],['test32', 'loDl2'],['tes23t', 'loDEl'],['testDE2', 'lolDE2']

Is this what you want?

edited Feb 6, 2016 at 14:36

answered Feb 6, 2016 at 14:30

IaMaCuP

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1 Comment

user5672329 Over a year ago

Working but slashes are escaped and json_unescaped_slashes aren't working

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