Turn json file into php array to select random name from the array

Question

Problem is as follows:

I'm exporting a list of names and values(repCode) attached to each name from excel into a json file.

I then want to convert the json file into a php array so that I can have a piece of code that will select a random name from the php array and display the random name(and value(repCode) attached to the name).

I've tried many options so far but I keep running into problems that I'm struggling to find a solution for. One example would be:

<?php

$jsondata = file_get_contents("Names.json");
$json = json_decode($jsondata, true);
$output = '<ul>';
foreach($json['Reps']as $reps){
$output .='<h4>' .$reps['Client']."<h4>";
$output .= "<li>".$reps['Code']."</li>";

}

$output .= "</ul>";
$element = $output[mt_rand(0, count($output) - 1)];

echo $element;

?>

That doesn't work.

json File as follow: "Names.json"

{
"Reps": [

{"Client":"Jack",
    "repCode":"tt1790861"},
{"Client":"James",
    "repCode":"tt1790862"},
{"Client":"Sam",
    "repCode":"tt1790863"},
{"Client":"Hendry",
    "repCode":"tt1790864"},
{"Client":"Samone",
    "repCode":"tt1790865"},
{"Client":"Judy",
    "repCode":"tt179086"},
{"Client":"Jake",
    "repCode":"tt1790867"},
{"Client":"Amy",
    "repCode":"tt1790868"},
{"Client":"Brandon",
    "repCode":"tt1790869"},
{"Client":"Blake",
    "repCode":"tt17908610"},
{"Client":"Rick",
    "repCode":"tt17908611"},
{"Client":"Morty",
    "repCode":"tt17908612"}       
]
}

And then below is some php code:

<?php
  // JSON string
  $someJSON = "Names.json";

  // Convert JSON string to Array
  $someArray = json_decode($someJSON, true);
  print_r($someArray);        // Dump all data of the Array
  echo $someArray[0]["Client"]; // Access Array data

?>

I'm getting no result when I echo out the json file. So I can't even get to the part where I want to use the json file that's been converted into a php array so I can have code to select a random name + associated rep code and display it.

Any help would be appreciated.

The first example looks like the random element part depends on $output being an array, but it's a string. — Don't Panic
– Don't Panic, Commented May 14, 2019 at 20:50

AbraCadaver · Accepted Answer · 2019-05-14 21:01:37Z

2

In your first example you're trying to use $output as an array, it's not. Also, you're not accessing the keys of $element:

$element = $json['Reps'][mt_rand(0, count($json['Reps']) - 1)];
//or
$element = $json['Reps'][array_rand($json['Reps'])];
echo $element['Client'];
echo $element['repCode'];

For your second example, you're not actually loading the JSON file and then you forget the Reps key:

$someJSON = file_get_contents("Names.json");
$someArray = json_decode($someJSON, true);
print_r($someArray);
echo $someArray["Reps"][0]["Client"];
//or random
echo $someArray["Reps"][array_rand($someArray["Reps"])]["Client"];

edited May 14, 2019 at 21:01

answered May 14, 2019 at 20:55

AbraCadaver

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1 Comment

Alex Coetzee Over a year ago

Your code works exceptional. Thanks a lot @AbraCadaver.

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