Php JSON encode array and unexpected token error in decoding

Question

I got an array from an SQL query, encoded it and when I decode in javascript I receive the error

Unexpected token a in JSON at position 0

The var_dump of the array before the encode:

array(1) { [0]=> array(10) { ["order_id"]=> string(10) "1512642144" 
["order_erp_id"]=> string(1) "0" ["order_type"]=> string(3) "web" 
["order_date"]=> string(23) "2017-12-07 11:22:24.263" ["order_total"]=> 
string(4) "0.00" ["order_desc1"]=> string(3) "web" ["order_desc2"]=> 
string(4) "test" ["no_items"]=> string(1) "0" ["order_count"]=> int(1) 
["item_arr"]=> string(0) "" } } 
[{"order_id":"1512642144","order_erp_id":"0","order_type":"web",
"order_date":"2017-12-07 11:22:24.263","order_total":"0.00",  
"order_desc1":"web","order_desc2":"test","no_items":"0",
"order_count":1,"item_arr":""}]

then I encode and send it with:

echo json_encode($order_item_arr);

On the client side, I receive the data and before the decoding step I have this from the console.log(data); in javascript:

array(1) {
[0]=>
array(10) {
["order_id"]=>
string(10) "1512642144"
["order_erp_id"]=>
string(1) "0"
["order_type"]=>
string(3) "web"
["order_date"]=>
string(23) "2017-12-07 11:22:24.263"
["order_total"]=>
string(4) "0.00"
["order_desc1"]=>
string(3) "web"
["order_desc2"]=>
string(4) "test"
["no_items"]=>
string(1) "0"
["order_count"]=>
int(1)
["item_arr"]=>
string(0) ""
  }
}


[{"order_id":"1512642144","order_erp_id":"0","order_type":"web",
"order_date":"2017-12-07 11:22:24.263","order_total":"0.00",  
"order_desc1":"web","order_desc2":"test","no_items":"0", 
"order_count":1,"item_arr":""}]

So it looks like quite ok, and when I decode it with JSON.parse(data); I have the error:

VM414:1 Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected token a in JSON at position 0

mega6382 · Accepted Answer · 2017-12-07 10:50:35Z

Don't output var_dump on your PHP page, it invalidates the json on that page. Remove the var_dump() and the errors will go away.

As you can see from:

Unexpected token a in JSON at position 0

That the error is occurring due to array(1) {, which is not a valid json. And is breaking the entire json data along with it.

So, just remove the var_dump().

Look at this:

array(1) {
[0]=>
array(10) {
["order_id"]=>
string(10) "1512642144"
["order_erp_id"]=>
string(1) "0"
["order_type"]=>
string(3) "web"
["order_date"]=>
string(23) "2017-12-07 11:22:24.263"
["order_total"]=>
string(4) "0.00"
["order_desc1"]=>
string(3) "web"
["order_desc2"]=>
string(4) "test"
["no_items"]=>
string(1) "0"
["order_count"]=>
int(1)
["item_arr"]=>
string(0) ""
  }
}

Removing var_dump() will remove the above part and, only thing which will remain is the string below, which is valid json.

[{"order_id":"1512642144","order_erp_id":"0","order_type":"web",
"order_date":"2017-12-07 11:22:24.263","order_total":"0.00",  
"order_desc1":"web","order_desc2":"test","no_items":"0", 
"order_count":1,"item_arr":""}]

Quentin · Accepted Answer · 2017-12-07 10:45:18Z

3

Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected token a in JSON at position 0

So the very first character in your "JSON" is a, which can't be valid JSON. And your echo json_encode($order_item_arr); line will not output it.

The var_dump of the array before the encode:
array(1) { [0]=> array

… and there is your problem. You can see that the first character is a.

You are trying to parse your var_dump as if it were JSON.

Don't do that. Parse the JSON instead.

answered Dec 7, 2017 at 10:45

Quentin

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2 Comments

Stefano Maglione Over a year ago

Thanks, how can I correctly encode the array without sending the 'array(1) . . .'

Quentin Over a year ago

@StefanoMaglione — Do. Not. Use. var_dump.

todary · Accepted Answer · 2017-12-07 11:00:34Z

0

JSON.parse() is used to convert a string containing JSON notation into a Javascript object.

Your code turns the object into a string (by calling .toString()) in order to try to parse it as JSON text. The default .toString() returns "[object Object]", which is not valid JSON; hence the error

answered Dec 7, 2017 at 11:00

todary

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