Fix JSON Format from MySQL/PHP

Question

In the two versions of code below, the first produces results but note that there is no end bracket at the end of the "text" array as there should be. The second output which comes from the other code example SEEMS like it should work but it fails completely. Where did I go wrong?

when I do this;

foreach($db_found->query($sql) as $row) {
        $json_array[] = 

            array('start_date' => 
                array('minute' => $row[min], 'hour' => $row[hour], 
                    'month' => $row[mo], 'day' => $row[day], 'year' => $row[yr]),
              'text' => 
                array('text'  => $row[text],
              'group' =>
                array('group' => $row[callsign])))
        ; 
    }
$data = array("events" =>  $json_array);
  echo json_encode($data);

I get this:

    {
   "events":[
      {
         "start_date":{
            "minute":"42",
            "hour":"18",
            "month":"11",
            "day":"11",
            "year":"2019"
         },
         "text":{
            "text":"BILL SWEENEY Opened the net from 65.255.143.178 on 146.655MHz, PL94.8Hz",
            "group":{
               "group":"W0WTS"
            }
         }
      },
      {
         "start_date":{
            "minute":"42",
            "hour":"18",
            "month":"11",
            "day":"11",
            "year":"2019"
         },
         "text":{
            "text":"Peculiar: Clear, 19.9F, wind: N @ 15, humidity: 54%",
            "group":{
               "group":"GENCOMM"
            }
         }
      }
   ]
}

But what I need is this:

{
   "events":[
      {
         "start_date":{
            "minute":"42",
            "hour":"18",
            "month":"11",
            "day":"11",
            "year":"2019"
         },
         "text":{
            "text":"BILL SWEENEY Opened the net from 65.255.143.178 on 146.655MHz, PL94.8Hz"
         },
         "group":{
            "group":"W0WTS"
         }
      },
      {
         "start_date":{
            "minute":"42",
            "hour":"18",
            "month":"11",
            "day":"11",
            "year":"2019"
         },
         "text":{
            "text":"Peculiar: Clear, 19.9F, wind: N @ 15, humidity: 54%"
         },
         "group":{
            "group":"GENCOMM"
         }
      }
   ]
}

I have also tried:

 foreach($db_found->query($sql) as $row) {
        $json_array[] = 

            array('start_date' => 
                array('minute' => $row[min], 'hour' => $row[hour], 
                    'month' => $row[mo], 'day' => $row[day], 'year' => $row[yr]),
            array('text' => 
                array('text'  => $row[text]),
            array('group' =>
                array('group' => $row[callsign]))
        ; 
    }
$data = array("events" =>  $json_array);
  echo json_encode($data);

But that doesn't work at all. What am I doing wrong.

Answer 1

So, I started by prettifying your JSON & PHP, then reformatting your code, to make it easier to understand the desired data hierarchy as well as the coded data hierarchy. Here's the reformat:

<?php
foreach ($db_found->query($sql) as $row) {
    $json_array[] = 
    [
        'start_date' => 
        [
            'minute' => $row['min'],
            'hour' => $row['hour'],
            'month' => $row['mo'],
            'day' => $row['day'],
            'year' => $row['yr']
        ],
        'text' => 
        [
            'text' => $row['text'],
            'group' => 
            [
                'group' => $row['callsign']
            ]
        ]
    ];
}
$data = ["events" => $json_array];
echo json_encode($data);

?>

And you can see that the 'group' array is inside the 'text' array. And after reformatting your desired JSON, I think this is what you're looking for:

And the code that produces the output I think you're looking for:

<?php
foreach ($db_found->query($sql) as $row) {
    $data["events"][] = 
    [
        'start_date' => 
        [
            'minute' => $row['min'],
            'hour' => $row['hour'],
            'month' => $row['mo'],
            'day' => $row['day'],
            'year' => $row['yr']
        ],
        'text' => 
        [
            'text' => $row['text']
        ],
        'group' => 
        [
            'group' => $row['callsign']
        ]
    ];
}

echo json_encode($data);

?>

Notes:

• I chose this particular formatting because it was the easiest way to understand the hierarchy. Usually I don't put the [ on it's own line like that, but it made it easier to process in this case.

• I chose [] for array definitions over array() because it's much less visual noise, thus easier to understand

• I used $data["events"][] = in the loop because I think it makes it clearer what data you're defining. Alternatively, I might do $events[] = or $eventsJson[] = so the variable makes it clear what information it should be holding, then do the $data=['events'=>$eventsJson];

• $row[string] is not forward compatible. See https://www.php.net/manual/en/language.types.array.php#language.types.array.foo-bar

Answer 2

try this code block

     $json_array[] = 

            array(
                  'start_date' => 
                               array(
                                    'minute' => $row[min], 
                                    'hour' => $row[hour], 
                                    'month' => $row[mo], 
                                    'day' => $row[day], 
                                    'year' => $row[yr]
                                  ),
                   'text' => 
                           array('text'  => $row[text]), // this is the change
                   'group' =>
                           array('group' => $row[callsign]) // so here matching bracket must be maintain 
               ); 

OUTP Structure is your desired one with null data because i don't have looping data

{
  "events": [
    {
      "start_date": {
        "minute": null,
        "hour": null,
        "month": null,
        "day": null,
        "year": null
      },
      "text": {
        "text": null
      },
      "group": {
        "group": null
      }
    }
  ]
}