Force PHP json_encode() to encode indexes as strings

Question

I have a an array setup as follows:

$myArray = array();
$myArray[] = "New array item 1";
$myArray[] = "New array item 2";
$myArray[] = "New array item 3";

When I run json_encode() on it it outputs the following:

["New array item 1","New array item 2","New array item 3"]

What I want is for the function to encode the indexes as strings:

{"0":"New array item 1","1":"New array item 2","2":"New array item 3"}

So that later I can remove say the first item without affecting the index of the second.

Is there an easy way to do this?

Esailija · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-15 09:08:58Z

10

Use JSON_FORCE_OBJECT:

json_encode( $data, JSON_FORCE_OBJECT );

Requires PHP 5.3+

answered Nov 15, 2012 at 9:08

Esailija

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6 Comments

bbeckford Over a year ago

Is there no other way? I wanted to keep it as an array.

Esailija Over a year ago

@bbeckford what do you mean? You'll still have the original array, it is not mutated or removed

bbeckford Over a year ago

Well for instance I wouldn't be able to do this would I? $decodedArray = json_decode('{"0":"New array item 1","1":"New array item 2","2":"New array item 3"}'); $decodedArray[] = "New array item 4"; json_encode( $decodedArray, JSON_FORCE_OBJECT );

Oleg Over a year ago

@bbeckford If you're planning to use this array in JavaScript, it's best to know that the syntax doesn't allow Arrays with such indexes anyway. You'll get a SyntaxError: Unexpected token :.

Esailija Over a year ago

@bbeckford you should pass true as second parameter to json_decode

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Marcin Orlowski · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-24 23:55:49Z

4

Not exactly what you want but you can use JSON_FORCE_OBJECT option:

json_encode($myArray, JSON_FORCE_OBJECT);

which would produce:

{"0":"New array item 1","1":"New array item 2","2":"New array item 3"}

Same if you cast your array to object:

json_encode((object)$myArray);

Alternatively:

$myArray = array(
  "0" => "New array item 1",
  "2" => "New array item 2",
  "3" => "New array item 3"
  );

 echo json_encode($myArray);

would give same:

{"0":"New array item 1","2":"New array item 2","3":"New array item 3"}

edited Apr 24, 2016 at 23:55

answered Nov 15, 2012 at 9:10

Marcin Orlowski

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3 Comments

morgar Over a year ago

This works only if indexes are not continous. "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."

Marcin Orlowski Over a year ago

@morgar: Read the manual again. It works for all cases because that's what JSON_FORCE_OBJECT is for.

Marcin Orlowski Over a year ago

5.3 release date is 30 June 2009, so what argument is that?

DhruvPathak · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-15 09:18:55Z

3

For PHP < 5.3 , use this method :

<?php   

$myArray = array();
$myArray[] = "New array item 1";
$myArray[] = "New array item 2";
$myArray[] = "New array item 3";

echo json_encode((object)$myArray); // typecast the array as object

?>

answered Nov 15, 2012 at 9:18

DhruvPathak

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