{"id":123305,"date":"2021-09-15T18:07:39","date_gmt":"2021-09-15T18:07:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phppot.com\/?p=15597"},"modified":"2021-09-15T18:07:39","modified_gmt":"2021-09-15T18:07:39","slug":"php-object-to-array-convert-using-json-decode","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2021\/09\/15\/php-object-to-array-convert-using-json-decode\/","title":{"rendered":"PHP Object to Array Convert using JSON Decode"},"content":{"rendered":"
by Vincy<\/a>. Last modified on September 15th, 2021.<\/div>\n

The PHP object to array conversion makes it easy to access data from the object bundle. Most of the API outputs object as a response.<\/p>\n

Some APIs may return a complex object structure. For example, a mixture of objects and arrays bundled with a response. At that time, the object to array conversion process will simplify the data parsing.<\/p>\n

This quick example performs a PHP object to array conversion in a single step. It creates an object bundle and sets the properties.<\/p>\n

It uses JSON encode() decode()<\/a> function for the conversion. The json_decode() supplies boolean true to get the array output.<\/p>\n

\n

Quick example<\/h2>\n

PHP object to array conversion in a line using json_decode<\/p>\n

\n<?php\n$object = new StdClass();\n$object->id = 5678;\n$object->name = \"William\";\n$object->department = \"CSE\";\n$object->designation = \"Engineer\"; $result = json_encode($object);\n\/\/ converts object $result to array\n$output = json_decode($result, true); print \"<pre>\";\nprint_r($result);\n?>\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<\/div>\n
Output<\/h4>\n
After decoding<\/a>, the output array is printed to the browser. The below screenshot shows the output of this program.<\/p>\n
\"php<\/p>\n
Different ways of converting a PHP object to array<\/h2>\n
When converting an object to array, the object property \u2018name:value\u2019 pairs will form an associative array.<\/p>\n
If an object contains unassigned properties then it will return an array with numerical keys.<\/p>\n
There are two ways to achieve a PHP object to array conversion.<\/p>\n
    \n
  1. Typecasting<\/em> object into an array.<\/li>\n
  2. Encoding and decoding<\/em> object properties into an array of elements.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    Typecasting is a straightforward method to convert the type of input data. The second method applies json_decode() on the given object. It supplied boolean true as a second parameter to get the output in an array format.<\/p>\n
    This article includes examples of using both of the above methods to perform the object to array conversion.<\/p>\n
    PHP object to array using typecasting<\/h2>\n
    This is an alternate method to convert an object type into an array. The below program uses the same input object.<\/p>\n
    It replaces the JSON encode decode via conversion with the typecasting<\/a> statement. The output will be the same as we have seen above.<\/p>\n
    The PHP typecasting syntax is shown below. It prepends the target data type enclosed with parenthesis.<\/p>\n
    \n$output = (target-data-type) $input\n<\/code><\/pre>\n
    type-casting-to-convert-object-to-array.php<\/p>\n
    \n<?php\n$object = new StdClass();\n$object->id = 5678;\n$object->name = \"William\";\n$object->department = \"CSE\";\n$object->destination = \"Engineer\"; print\"<pre>\";\nprint_r( (array) $object );\n?>\n<\/code><\/pre>\n
    Recursive object to array conversion<\/h2>\n
    This example uses an input object with depth = 3. It adds more properties at a nested level<\/a> at different depths. The hierarchical object bundle is set as the input for the conversion process.<\/p>\n
    This program defines a custom function to convert a PHP object to array. It performs the conversion recursively on each level of the input object.<\/p>\n
    converting-recursive-object-to-array.php<\/p>\n
    \n<?php\n$object = new StdClass();\n$object->id = 5678;\n$object->name = \"William\"; $object->address = new stdClass();\n$object->address->email = \"William@gmail.com\"; $object->address->billing = new stdClass();\n$object->address->billing->zipcode = 9950; $object->address->shipping = new stdClass();\n$object->address->shipping->zipcode = 1234; $object->address->state = \"South Carolina\";\n$object->address->city = \"Columbia\";\n$object->address->country = \"US\"; function objectToArray($object)\n{ foreach ($object as $k => $obj) { if (is_object($obj)) { $object->$k = objectToArray($obj); } else { $object->$k = $obj; } } return (array) $object;\n} $result = objectToArray($object); print \"<pre>\";\nprint_r($result);\n?>\n<\/code><\/pre>\n
    This is the output of the recursive PHP object to the array conversion program above.<\/p>\n
    \"recursive<\/p>\n
    Convert PHP class object into array<\/h2>\n
    This example constructs a PHP class object bundle. The class constructor<\/a> sets the properties of the object during the instantiation.<\/p>\n
    Then, the Student class instance is encoded to prepare object type data. The json_encode() function prepares the JSON object to supply it for decoding. The json_decode() converts the PHP object to array.<\/p>\n
    convert-class-object-into-array.php<\/p>\n
    \n<?php\nclass student\n{ public function __construct($id, $name, $state, $city, $country) { $this->id = $id; $this->name = $name; $this->state = $state; $this->city = $city; $this->country = $country; }\n} $student = new student(\"5678\", \"William\", \"South Carolina\", \"Columbia\", \"US\");\n$result = json_encode($student);\n$output = json_decode($result, true);\nprint \"<pre>\";\nprint_r($output);\n?>\n<\/code><\/pre>\n
    Check is_object() before conversion<\/h2>\n
    It is good programming practice<\/a> to check the data availability before processing. This example applies the is_object verification before converting a PHP object to an array.<\/p>\n
    This method verifies if the input is an object. PHP includes exclusive functions to verify data availability and its type. Example isset(), empty()<\/a>, is_array() etc.<\/p>\n
    checking-object-before-conversion.php<\/p>\n
    \n<?php class student\n{ public function __construct($id, $name, $state, $city, $country) { $this->id = $id; $this->name = $name; $this->state = $state; $this->city = $city; $this->country = $country; }\n}\n$student= new student(\"5678\", \"William\", \"South Carolina\", \"Columbia\", \"US\"); print \"<pre>\";\nif (is_object($student)) { echo \"Input Object:\" . '<br>'; $result = json_encode($student); print_r($result); $studentArray = json_decode($result, true);\n} if(!empty($studentArray) && is_array($studentArray)) { echo \"<br><br>Output Array:\" . '<br>'; print_r($studentArray);\n}\n?>\n<\/code><\/pre>\n
    Convert Private, Protected object of a class<\/h2>\n
    The below program defines a class with private and protected properties<\/a>. The PHP code instantiates the class and creates an object bundle.<\/p>\n
    It uses both the typecasting and decoding methods to convert the object into an array.<\/p>\n
    When using typecasting, the output array index of the private property contains the class name prefix. After conversion, the array index has a * prefix for the protected properties.<\/p>\n
    converting-private-protected-object.php<\/p>\n
    \n<?php\nclass Student\n{ public $name; private $id; protected $email; public function __construct() { $this->name =\"William\"; $this->id = 5678; $this->email = \"william@gmail.com\"; }\n} print \"<pre>\";\n$student = new Student;\n$result = json_encode($student);\n$output1 = json_decode($result, true);\nprint \"<br\/>Using JSON decode:<br\/>\";\nprint_r($output1); $output2 = new Student;\nprint \"<br\/><br\/>Using Type casting:<br\/>\";\nprint_r( (array) $output2 );\n?>\n<\/code><\/pre>\n
    This output screenshot shows the difference in the array index. Those are created from the private and protected properties of the class instance.<\/p>\n
    \"private<\/p>\n
    Accessing object properties with numeric keys<\/h2>\n
    This code includes an associative array<\/a> of student details. It also contains values with numeric keys.<\/p>\n
    When converting this array into an object, the associative array keys are used to access the object property values. There are exceptions to access properties if it doesn\u2019t have a name.<\/p>\n
    The below code shows how to access objects with numeric keys. The key is enclosed by curly brackets to get the value.<\/p>\n
    problem-with-numerical-keys.php<\/p>\n
    \n<?php\n$inputArray = array( 'name' => 'William', 'email' => 'William@gmail.com', 'phone' => '12345678', 'REG5678'\n); $student = (object) array( 'name' => 'William', 'email' => 'William@gmail.com', 'phone' => '12345678', 'REG5678'\n);\necho '<pre>' . print_r($student, true) . '<\/pre>';\necho '<br \/>' . $student->name;\necho '<br \/>' . $student->email;\necho '<br \/>' . $student->phone;\necho '<br \/>' . $student->{0};\n?>\n<\/code><\/pre>\n
    Conclusion<\/h2>\n
    We have seen the different ways of converting a PHP object to an array. The basic PHP typecasting has achieved an object conversion except for few special cases.<\/p>\n
    The PHP JSON encode decode process made the conversion with one line code. It accepts class objects and converts their properties into an array list<\/a>.<\/p>\n
    The custom function processes recursive object to array conversion. It is to handle complex objects with mixed objects or arrays as its child elements.
    download<\/a><\/p>\n
      <\/p>\n
    \n
    Popular Articles<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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    by Vincy. Last modified on September 15th, 2021. The PHP object to array conversion makes it easy to access data from the object bundle. Most of the API outputs object as a response. Some APIs may return a complex object structure. For example, a mixture of objects and arrays bundled with a response. At that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123306,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-php-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}