Read and parse JSON files using the functions file_get_contents() and json_decode() in PHP.
The function file_get_contents() will read the entire file into a string, while json_decode() will decode the JSON string.
Requirements:
- PHP
- PHP JSON extension – added and enabled by default since PHP 5.2.0
How To Read and Parse JSON Files in PHP.
The objective is to read and parse a JSON file and display it’s contents.
This tutorial will use the generated JSON file named members.json from the tutorial Create JSON Files In PHP.
Step 1.
Use file_get_contents() to read the contents of members.json into a string.
<?php
$jsonFile = file_get_contents('members.json');Step 2.
Use json_decode() to decode the JSON string of members.json.
<?php
$jsonFile_decoded = json_decode($jsonFile);
Step 3.
Now that the JSON string is decoded, different things can be done with the data, like displaying it by using print_r().
<?php
print_r($jsonFile_decoded);
All codes together.
<?php
$jsonFile = file_get_contents('members.json');
$jsonFile_decoded = json_decode($jsonFile);
print_r($jsonFile_decoded);Result.
stdClass Object ( [members] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [0] => Jackson [1] => Barbara [2] => 27 [3] => F [4] => Florida ) [1] => Array ( [0] => Kimball [1] => Andrew [2] => 25 [3] => M [4] => Texas ) [2] => Array ( [0] => Baker [1] => John [2] => 28 [3] => M [4] => Arkansas ) [3] => Array ( [0] => Gamble [1] => Edward [2] => 29 [3] => M [4] => Virginia ) [4] => Array ( [0] => Anderson [1] => Kimberly [2] => 23 [3] => F [4] => Tennessee ) [5] => Array ( [0] => Houston [1] => Franchine [2] => 25 [3] => F [4] => Idaho ) [6] => Array ( [0] => Franklin [1] => Howard [2] => 24 [3] => M [4] => California ) [7] => Array ( [0] => Chen [1] => Dan [2] => 26 [3] => M [4] => Washington ) [8] => Array ( [0] => Daniel [1] => Carolyn [2] => 27 [3] => F [4] => North Carolina ) [9] => Array ( [0] => Englert [1] => Grant [2] => 25 [3] => M [4] => Delaware ) ) )For debugging purposes and easy reading, add a header content-type before printing the decoded JSON data.
<?php
$jsonFile = file_get_contents('members.json');
$jsonFile_decoded = json_decode($jsonFile);
header('Content-Type: application/json');
print_r($jsonFile_decoded);Result:
stdClass Object
(
[members] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[0] => Jackson
[1] => Barbara
[2] => 27
[3] => F
[4] => Florida
)
[1] => Array
(
[0] => Kimball
[1] => Andrew
[2] => 25
[3] => M
[4] => Texas
)
[2] => Array
(
[0] => Baker
[1] => John
[2] => 28
[3] => M
[4] => Arkansas
)
[3] => Array
(
[0] => Gamble
[1] => Edward
[2] => 29
[3] => M
[4] => Virginia
)
[4] => Array
(
[0] => Anderson
[1] => Kimberly
[2] => 23
[3] => F
[4] => Tennessee
)
[5] => Array
(
[0] => Houston
[1] => Franchine
[2] => 25
[3] => F
[4] => Idaho
)
[6] => Array
(
[0] => Franklin
[1] => Howard
[2] => 24
[3] => M
[4] => California
)
[7] => Array
(
[0] => Chen
[1] => Dan
[2] => 26
[3] => M
[4] => Washington
)
[8] => Array
(
[0] => Daniel
[1] => Carolyn
[2] => 27
[3] => F
[4] => North Carolina
)
[9] => Array
(
[0] => Englert
[1] => Grant
[2] => 25
[3] => M
[4] => Delaware
)
)
)Notes:
- Since PHP 5.2.0, JSON extension was added and enabled by default.
- As of PHP 8.0.0, the JSON extension is a core PHP extension, so it is always enabled.
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