json_encode Returns the JSON representation of a value &reftitle.description; stringjson_encode mixedvalue intoptions0 Returns a string containing the JSON representation of value. &reftitle.parameters; value The value being encoded. Can be any type except a resource. This function only works with UTF-8 encoded data. options Bitmask consisting of JSON_HEX_QUOT, JSON_HEX_TAG, JSON_HEX_AMP, JSON_HEX_APOS, JSON_NUMERIC_CHECK, JSON_BIGINT_AS_STRING, JSON_PRETTY_PRINT, JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES, JSON_FORCE_OBJECT, JSON_UNESCAPED_UNICODE. &reftitle.returnvalues; Returns a JSON encoded string on success. &reftitle.changelog; &Version; &Description; 5.4.0 JSON_BIGINT_AS_STRING, JSON_PRETTY_PRINT, JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES, and JSON_UNESCAPED_UNICODE options were added. 5.3.3 JSON_NUMERIC_CHECK option was added. 5.3.0 The options parameter was added. &reftitle.examples; A <function>json_encode</function> example 1, 'b' => 2, 'c' => 3, 'd' => 4, 'e' => 5); echo json_encode($arr); ?> ]]> &example.outputs; A <function>json_encode</function> example showing all the options in action ',"'bar'",'"baz"','&blong&', "\xc3\xa9"); echo "Normal: ", json_encode($a), "\n"; echo "Tags: ", json_encode($a, JSON_HEX_TAG), "\n"; echo "Apos: ", json_encode($a, JSON_HEX_APOS), "\n"; echo "Quot: ", json_encode($a, JSON_HEX_QUOT), "\n"; echo "Amp: ", json_encode($a, JSON_HEX_AMP), "\n"; echo "Unicode: ", json_encode($a, JSON_UNESCAPED_UNICODE), "\n"; echo "All: ", json_encode($a, JSON_HEX_TAG | JSON_HEX_APOS | JSON_HEX_QUOT | JSON_HEX_AMP | JSON_UNESCAPED_UNICODE), "\n\n"; $b = array(); echo "Empty array output as array: ", json_encode($b), "\n"; echo "Empty array output as object: ", json_encode($b, JSON_FORCE_OBJECT), "\n\n"; $c = array(array(1,2,3)); echo "Non-associative array output as array: ", json_encode($c), "\n"; echo "Non-associative array output as object: ", json_encode($c, JSON_FORCE_OBJECT), "\n\n"; $d = array('foo' => 'bar', 'baz' => 'long'); echo "Associative array always output as object: ", json_encode($d), "\n"; echo "Associative array always output as object: ", json_encode($d, JSON_FORCE_OBJECT), "\n\n"; ?> ]]> &example.outputs; ","'bar'","\"baz\"","&blong&","\u00e9"] Tags: ["\u003Cfoo\u003E","'bar'","\"baz\"","&blong&","\u00e9"] Apos: ["","\u0027bar\u0027","\"baz\"","&blong&","\u00e9"] Quot: ["","'bar'","\u0022baz\u0022","&blong&","\u00e9"] Amp: ["","'bar'","\"baz\"","\u0026blong\u0026","\u00e9"] Unicode: ["","'bar'","\"baz\"","&blong&","é"] All: ["\u003Cfoo\u003E","\u0027bar\u0027","\u0022baz\u0022","\u0026blong\u0026","é"] Empty array output as array: [] Empty array output as object: {} Non-associative array output as array: [[1,2,3]] Non-associative array output as object: {"0":{"0":1,"1":2,"2":3}} Associative array always output as object: {"foo":"bar","baz":"long"} Associative array always output as object: {"foo":"bar","baz":"long"} ]]> Sequential versus non-sequential array example "foo", 2=>"bar", 3=>"baz", 4=>"blong"); var_dump( $nonsequential, json_encode($nonsequential) ); echo PHP_EOL."Sequential array with one key unset".PHP_EOL; unset($sequential[1]); var_dump( $sequential, json_encode($sequential) ); ?> ]]> &example.outputs; string(3) "foo" [1]=> string(3) "bar" [2]=> string(3) "baz" [3]=> string(5) "blong" } string(27) "["foo","bar","baz","blong"]" Non-sequential array array(4) { [1]=> string(3) "foo" [2]=> string(3) "bar" [3]=> string(3) "baz" [4]=> string(5) "blong" } string(43) "{"1":"foo","2":"bar","3":"baz","4":"blong"}" Sequential array with one key unset array(3) { [0]=> string(3) "foo" [2]=> string(3) "baz" [3]=> string(5) "blong" } string(33) "{"0":"foo","2":"baz","3":"blong"}" ]]> &reftitle.notes; In the event of a failure to encode, json_last_error can be used to determine the exact nature of the error. When encoding an array, if the keys are not a continuous numeric sequence starting from 0, all keys are encoded as strings, and specified explicitly for each key-value pair. &reftitle.seealso; JsonSerializable json_decode json_last_error