json_decode Decodes a JSON string &reftitle.description; mixedjson_decode stringjson boolassocfalse intdepth512 intoptions0 Takes a JSON encoded string and converts it into a PHP variable. &reftitle.parameters; json The json string being decoded. This function only works with UTF-8 encoded strings. &json.implementation.superset; assoc When &true;, returned objects will be converted into associative arrays. depth User specified recursion depth. options Bitmask of JSON decode options. Currently there are two supported options. The first is JSON_BIGINT_AS_STRING that allows casting big integers to string instead of floats which is the defaul. The second option is JSON_OBJECT_AS_ARRAY that has the same effect as setting assoc to &true;. &reftitle.returnvalues; Returns the value encoded in json in appropriate PHP type. Values true, false and null are returned as &true;, &false; and &null; respectively. &null; is returned if the json cannot be decoded or if the encoded data is deeper than the recursion limit. &reftitle.examples; <function>json_decode</function> examples ]]> &example.outputs; int(1) ["b"] => int(2) ["c"] => int(3) ["d"] => int(4) ["e"] => int(5) } array(5) { ["a"] => int(1) ["b"] => int(2) ["c"] => int(3) ["d"] => int(4) ["e"] => int(5) } ]]> Accessing invalid object properties Accessing elements within an object that contain characters not permitted under PHP's naming convention (e.g. the hyphen) can be accomplished by encapsulating the element name within braces and the apostrophe. {'foo-bar'}; // 12345 ?> ]]> common mistakes using <function>json_decode</function> ]]> <parameter>depth</parameter> errors array( 'English' => array( 'One', 'January' ), 'French' => array( 'Une', 'Janvier' ) ) ) ); // Define the errors. $constants = get_defined_constants(true); $json_errors = array(); foreach ($constants["json"] as $name => $value) { if (!strncmp($name, "JSON_ERROR_", 11)) { $json_errors[$value] = $name; } } // Show the errors for different depths. foreach (range(4, 3, -1) as $depth) { var_dump(json_decode($json, true, $depth)); echo 'Last error: ', $json_errors[json_last_error()], PHP_EOL, PHP_EOL; } ?> ]]> &example.outputs; array(2) { ["English"]=> array(2) { [0]=> string(3) "One" [1]=> string(7) "January" } ["French"]=> array(2) { [0]=> string(3) "Une" [1]=> string(7) "Janvier" } } } Last error: JSON_ERROR_NONE NULL Last error: JSON_ERROR_DEPTH ]]> <function>json_decode</function> of large integers ]]> &example.outputs; float(1.2345678901235E+19) } object(stdClass)#1 (1) { ["number"]=> string(20) "12345678901234567890" } ]]> &reftitle.notes; The JSON spec is not JavaScript, but a subset of JavaScript. In the event of a failure to decode, json_last_error can be used to determine the exact nature of the error. &reftitle.changelog; &Version; &Description; 5.6.0 Invalid non-lowercased variants of the true, false and null literals are no longer accepted as valid input, and will generate warnings. 5.4.0 The options parameter was added. 5.3.0 Added the optional depth. The default recursion depth was increased from 128 to 512 5.2.3 The nesting limit was increased from 20 to 128 5.2.1 Added support for JSON decoding of basic types. &reftitle.seealso; json_encode json_last_error