How can I access JSON elements in PHP like array object?

Question

From triggering this Webhook , I receive an order object that looks like this when I output it in an email:

Array{"id":1154,"parent_id":0,"status":"pending","currency":"EUR","version":"3.2.3","prices_include_tax":true,"date_created":{"date":"2017-12-15 15:58:42.000000","timezone_type":1,"timezone":"+00:00"},"date_modified":{"date":"2017-12-15 15:58:42.000000","timezone_type":1,"timezone":"+00:00"},"discount_total":"0","discount_tax":"0","shipping_total":"0","shipping_tax":"0","cart_tax":"0","total":"6.50","total_tax":"0","customer_id":0,"order_key":"wc_order_5a33f1321ba43","billing":{"first_name":"Peter","last_name":"Parker","company":"","address_1":"Baker Str.","address_2":"2","city":"London","state":"","postcode":"50668","country":"DE","email":"something@gmail.com","phone":"01627423"},"shipping":{"first_name":"Peter","last_name":"Parker","company":"","address_1":"Baker Str.","address_2":"2","city":"London","state":"","postcode":"50668","country":"DE"},"payment_method":"cod","payment_method_title":"Bei Abholung","transaction _id":"","customer_ip_address":"...","customer_user_agent":"mozilla /5.0 (macintosh; intel mac os x 10_13_2) applewebkit/537.36 (khtml, like gecko) chrome/blabla safari/537.36","created_via":"checkout","customer_note":"","date_completed":null,"date_paid":null,"cart_hash":"be97db19eba58864b9166961ce22a706","number":"1154","meta_data":[{"id":4731,"key":"_billing_title","value":"1"},{"id":4732,"key":"_shipping_title","value":"1"}],"line_items":{"18":{}},"tax_lines":[],"shipping_lines":{"19":{}},"fee_lines":[],"coupon_lines":[]}

Could you please point me towards a possibility to access elements of this JSON so I can structure a message from certain parts of the $order object? I tried $data = json_decode($order) combined with $data->date_created but that didn't give me anything when I dumped the last part.

Answer 1

It is json, except the Array part at the start (presuming thats your attempt to access date_created):

You would use json_decode() as you were doing but date_created is also an array, so you would need to also choose which item you want from it.

$data = json_decode($order, true);

echo $data['date_created']['date']; // 2017-12-15 15:58:42.000000

So if you want customer name for example:

echo $data['billing']['first_name'].' '.$data['billing']['last_name'];

By print_r($data) 'ing it you can see how its structured.

Array
(
    [id] => 1154
    [parent_id] => 0
    [status] => pending
    [currency] => EUR
    [version] => 3.2.3
    [prices_include_tax] => 1
    [date_created] => Array
        (
            [date] => 2017-12-15 15:58:42.000000
            [timezone_type] => 1
            [timezone] => +00:00
        )

    [date_modified] => Array
        (
            [date] => 2017-12-15 15:58:42.000000
            [timezone_type] => 1
            [timezone] => +00:00
        )

    [discount_total] => 0
    [discount_tax] => 0
    [shipping_total] => 0
    [shipping_tax] => 0
    [cart_tax] => 0
    [total] => 6.50
    [total_tax] => 0
    [customer_id] => 0
    [order_key] => wc_order_5a33f1321ba43
    [billing] => Array
        (
            [first_name] => Peter
            [last_name] => Parker
            [company] => 
            [address_1] => Baker Str.
            [address_2] => 2
            [city] => London
            [state] => 
            [postcode] => 50668
            [country] => DE
            [email] => something@gmail.com
            [phone] => 01627423
        )

    [shipping] => Array
        (
            [first_name] => Peter
            [last_name] => Parker
            [company] => 
            [address_1] => Baker Str.
            [address_2] => 2
            [city] => London
            [state] => 
            [postcode] => 50668
            [country] => DE
        )

    [payment_method] => cod
    [payment_method_title] => Bei Abholung
    [transaction _id] => 
    [customer_ip_address] => ...
    [customer_user_agent] => mozilla/5.0 (macintosh; intel mac os x 10_13_2) applewebkit/537.36 (khtml, like gecko) chrome/blabla safari/537.36
    [created_via] => checkout
    [customer_note] => 
    [date_completed] => 
    [date_paid] => 
    [cart_hash] => be97db19eba58864b9166961ce22a706
    [number] => 1154
    [meta_data] => Array
        (
            [0] => Array
                (
                    [id] => 4731
                    [key] => _billing_title
                    [value] => 1
                )

            [1] => Array
                (
                    [id] => 4732
                    [key] => _shipping_title
                    [value] => 1
                )

        )

    [line_items] => Array
        (
            [18] => Array
                (
                )

        )

    [tax_lines] => Array
        (
        )

    [shipping_lines] => Array
        (
            [19] => Array
                (
                )

        )

    [fee_lines] => Array
        (
        )

    [coupon_lines] => Array
        (
        )

)

If you want a simple output you can traverse the array with a recursive function which will generate your email.

echo '<h2>Order Details</h2>'.PHP_EOL;
echo order_details(json_decode($json, true));

function order_details($items, $str = null) {   
    foreach ($items as $key => $item) {
        if (is_array($item)) {
            $str .= PHP_EOL.'<h3>'.ucwords(str_replace('_', ' ', $key)).'</h3>'.PHP_EOL;
            $str .= order_details($item, $str);
        } else {
            $str .= '<b>'.ucwords(str_replace('_', ' ', $key)).'</b>: '.$item.'</br>'.PHP_EOL;
        }
    }
    return $str;
}

Which will output like the following: https://3v4l.org/l9BS4

<h2>Order Details</h2>
<b>Id</b>: 1154</br>
<b>Parent Id</b>: 0</br>
<b>Status</b>: pending</br>
<b>Currency</b>: EUR</br>
<b>Version</b>: 3.2.3</br>
<b>Prices Include Tax</b>: 1</br>

<h3>Date Created</h3>
<b>Date</b>: 2017-12-15 15:58:42.000000</br>
<b>Timezone Type</b>: 1</br>
<b>Timezone</b>: +00:00</br>

<h3>Date Modified</h3>
<b>Date</b>: 2017-12-15 15:58:42.000000</br>
<b>Timezone Type</b>: 1</br>
<b>Timezone</b>: +00:00</br>
<b>Discount Total</b>: 0</br>
<b>Discount Tax</b>: 0</br>
<b>Shipping Total</b>: 0</br>
<b>Shipping Tax</b>: 0</br>
<b>Cart Tax</b>: 0</br>
<b>Total</b>: 6.50</br>
<b>Total Tax</b>: 0</br>
<b>Customer Id</b>: 0</br>
<b>Order Key</b>: wc_order_5a33f1321ba43</br>

<h3>Billing</h3>
<b>First Name</b>: Peter</br>
<b>Last Name</b>: Parker</br>
<b>Company</b>: </br>
<b>Address 1</b>: Baker Str.</br>
<b>Address 2</b>: 2</br>
<b>City</b>: London</br>
<b>State</b>: </br>
<b>Postcode</b>: 50668</br>
<b>Country</b>: DE</br>
<b>Email</b>: something@gmail.com</br>
<b>Phone</b>: 01627423</br>

<h3>Shipping</h3>
<b>First Name</b>: Peter</br>
<b>Last Name</b>: Parker</br>
<b>Company</b>: </br>
<b>Address 1</b>: Baker Str.</br>
<b>Address 2</b>: 2</br>
<b>City</b>: London</br>
<b>State</b>: </br>
<b>Postcode</b>: 50668</br>
<b>Country</b>: DE</br>
<b>Payment Method</b>: cod</br>
<b>Payment Method Title</b>: Bei Abholung</br>
<b>Transaction  Id</b>: </br>
<b>Customer Ip Address</b>: ...</br>
<b>Customer User Agent</b>: mozilla/5.0 (macintosh; intel mac os x 10_13_2) applewebkit/537.36 (khtml, like gecko) chrome/blabla safari/537.36</br>
<b>Created Via</b>: checkout</br>
<b>Customer Note</b>: </br>
<b>Date Completed</b>: </br>
<b>Date Paid</b>: </br>
<b>Cart Hash</b>: be97db19eba58864b9166961ce22a706</br>
<b>Number</b>: 1154</br>

<h3>Meta Data</h3>

<h3>0</h3>
<b>Id</b>: 4731</br>
<b>Key</b>: _billing_title</br>
<b>Value</b>: 1</br>

<h3>1</h3>
<b>Id</b>: 4732</br>
<b>Key</b>: _shipping_title</br>
<b>Value</b>: 1</br>

<h3>Line Items</h3>

<h3>18</h3>

<h3>Tax Lines</h3>

<h3>Shipping Lines</h3>

<h3>19</h3>

<h3>Fee Lines</h3>

<h3>Coupon Lines</h3>

Answer 2

When you use

$data = json_decode($order);

it will create an object, to convert this object into an associative array you just need to pass an argument

$data = json_decode($order, true);