Fatal error: Cannot use string offset as an array - parsing string from JSON response

Question

I am using an api for film dates and im trying to parse a json array. Ive tried to parse the release dates but i receive this error - Fatal error: Cannot use string offset as an array

Below is an example from the array

Array
(
    [total] => 17
    [movies] => Array
        (
            [0] => Array
                (
                    [id] => 22494
                    [title] => Titanic (in 3D)
                    [year] => 1997
                    [mpaa_rating] => PG-13
                    [runtime] => 195
                    [critics_consensus] => A mostly unqualified triumph for Cameron, who offers a dizzying blend of spectacular visuals and old-fashioned melodrama.
                    [release_dates] => Array
                        (
                            [theater] => 2012-04-04
                            [dvd] => 1999-08-31
                        )

Here's my simple code that is receiving the error.

<?php
$url = 'http://api.rottentomatoes.com/api/public/v1.0/lists/movies/upcoming.json?apikey=px8rr7zr5c6qjwpea66gdf93&page_limit=18';
$json = file_get_contents($url);
$data = json_decode($json, TRUE);

foreach($json['releasedates']['theatre'] as $item) {
    print $item['theatre'];
}

?>

Ideally i want to parse the dates into a variable and be able to compare them to the current day

Thanks for your help guys :)

keithhatfield · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-28 20:05:42Z

2

Your foreach is using the wrong variable (and you spelled theater wrong, per the data)

EDIT: Your script, working:

<?php
    $url = 'http://api.rottentomatoes.com/api/public/v1.0/lists/movies/upcoming.json?apikey=px8rr7zr5c6qjwpea66gdf93&page_limit=18';
    $json = file_get_contents($url);
    $data = json_decode($json, TRUE);

    foreach($data['movies'] as $item) {
        echo $item['title'] . ' is opening on ' . $item['release_dates']['theater'] . "\n";
    }

edited Mar 28, 2012 at 20:05

answered Mar 28, 2012 at 20:00

keithhatfield

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4 Comments

gen_Eric Over a year ago

This doesn't work with the data provided. $json['releasedates'] is an array containing one element, "2011-07-29", this has a key of "theater".

keithhatfield Over a year ago

I just edited and posted a working script ... the data he posted does not match what is being returned from the url in the script he provided ...

user1064660 Over a year ago

Thanks for your answer, its perfect. How would i go about analyzing the date returned so that it would show the difference between the dates. For example titanic is being released 4 days before lord of the rings? Should i post a separate question?

keithhatfield Over a year ago

That's just a matter of storing the variables and doing date math to compute the differences. Give it a shot and, if you get stuck, we'll be here to help ...

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