Convert structure to PHP array

Question

The horrible system we use in my company gives me the following output:

{
    party:"bases",
    number:"1",
    id:"xx_3039366",
    url:"systen01-ny.com",
    target:"_self",
    address:"Ch\u00e3o as Alminhas-Medas,Uteiros de Gatos e Fontes Longaq<br/>64320-761 ANHADOS LdA",
    coordinate:{
        x:90.995262145996094,
        y:-1.3394836426
    },
    contactDetails:{
        id:"366",
        phone:"xxxxxx",
        mobile:"",
        fax:"xxxx 777 235",
        c2c:!0
    },
    parameters:"Flex Am\u00e1vel Silva,hal,,EN_30336,S,786657,1,0,",
    text:"Vila Nova de Loz C\u00f4a,os melhores vinhos, v\u00e1rias. Produtor/exportador/com\u00e9rcio",
    website:null,
    mail:"",
    listing:"paid",
    pCode:"64",
    name:"xpto Am\u00e1vel Costa",
    logo:{src:"http://ny.test.gif",
    altname:"xpto Am\u00e1vel Costa"},
    bookingUrl:"",
    ipUrl:"",
    ipLabel:"",
    customerId:"7657",
    addressId:"98760",
    combined:null,
    showReviews:!0
}

I would like to know if there is a way to convert the output to array, as if it were a json, or even some other format that I can manipulate this data in PHP. Json_decode does not work.

Answer 1

Just like I said I would, here your very own Json Object parser.

One word of warning, these kind of things can be more art then science so if your inputs vary from what was in your example, it could have issues. Given the small sample size (1 document) I make no guarantees on it's functionality outside that one example.

I would try to explain how this works, but I fear it would be lost on mere mortals.

Seriously, this was fun, enjoyed the challenge for once.

<?php
function parseJson($subject, $tokens)
{
    $types = array_keys($tokens);
    $patterns = [];
    $lexer_stream = [];

    $result = false;

    foreach ($tokens as $k=>$v){
        $patterns[] = "(?P<$k>$v)";      
    } 
    $pattern = "/".implode('|', $patterns)."/i";

    if (preg_match_all($pattern, $subject, $matches, PREG_OFFSET_CAPTURE)) {
        //print_r($matches);
        foreach ($matches[0] as $key => $value) {
            $match = [];
            foreach ($types as $type) {
                $match = $matches[$type][$key];
                if (is_array($match) && $match[1] != -1) {
                    break;
                }
            }

            $tok  = [
                'content' => $match[0],
                'type' => $type,
                'offset' => $match[1]
            ];

            $lexer_stream[] = $tok;       
        }

       $result = parseJsonTokens( $lexer_stream );
    }
    return $result;
} 

function parseJsonTokens( array &$lexer_stream ){

    $result = [];

    next($lexer_stream); //advnace one
    $mode = 'key'; //items start in key mode  ( key => value )

    $key = '';
    $value = '';

    while($current = current($lexer_stream)){
        $content = $current['content'];
        $type = $current['type'];

        switch($type){
            case 'T_WHITESPACE'://ignore whitespace
                next($lexer_stream);
            break;
            case 'T_STRING':
                //keys are always strings, but strings are not always keys
                if( $mode == 'key')
                    $key .= $content;
                else
                    $value .= $content;           
                next($lexer_stream); //consume a token
            break;
            case 'T_COLON':
                $mode = 'value'; //change mode key :
                next($lexer_stream);//consume a token
            break;
            case 'T_ENCAP_STRING':
                $value .= trim(unicode_decode($content),'"'); //encapsulated strings are always content
                next($lexer_stream);//consume a token
            break;   
            case 'T_NULL':
                 $value = null; //encapsulated strings are always content
                 next($lexer_stream);//consume a token
            break;          
            case 'T_COMMA':  //comma ends an item               
                //store
                $result[$key] = $value;
                //reset
                $mode = 'key'; //items start in key mode  ( key => value ) 
                $key = '';
                $value = ''; 
                next($lexer_stream);//consume a token
            break;
            case 'T_OPEN_BRACE': //start of a sub-block
                $value = parseJsonTokens($lexer_stream); //recursive
            break;
            case 'T_CLOSE_BRACE': //start of a sub-block
                //store
                $result[$key] = $value;
                next($lexer_stream);//consume a token
                return $result;
            break;
            default:
                print_r($current);
                trigger_error("Unknown token $type value $content", E_USER_ERROR);
        }

    }

    if( !$current ) return;   
    print_r($current);
    trigger_error("Unclosed item $mode for $type value $content", E_USER_ERROR);
}

//@see https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2934563/how-to-decode-unicode-escape-sequences-like-u00ed-to-proper-utf-8-encoded-cha
function replace_unicode_escape_sequence($match) {
    return mb_convert_encoding(pack('H*', $match[1]), 'UTF-8', 'UCS-2BE');
}

function unicode_decode($str) {
    return preg_replace_callback('/\\\\u([0-9a-f]{4})/i', 'replace_unicode_escape_sequence', $str);
}

$str = '{
    party:"bases",
    number:"1",
    id:"xx_3039366",
    url:"systen01-ny.com",
    target:"_self",
    address:"Ch\u00e3o as Alminhas-Medas,Uteiros de Gatos e Fontes Longaq<br/>64320-761 ANHADOS LdA",
    coordinate:{
        x:90.995262145996094,
        y:-1.3394836426
    },
    contactDetails:{
        id:"366",
        phone:"xxxxxx",
        mobile:"",
        fax:"xxxx 777 235",
        c2c:!0
    },
    parameters:"Flex Am\u00e1vel Silva,hal,,EN_30336,S,786657,1,0,",
    text:"Vila Nova de Loz C\u00f4a,os melhores vinhos, v\u00e1rias. Produtor/exportador/com\u00e9rcio",
    website:null,
    mail:"",
    listing:"paid",
    pCode:"64",
    name:"xpto Am\u00e1vel Costa",
    logo:{src:"http://ny.test.gif",
    altname:"xpto Am\u00e1vel Costa"},
    bookingUrl:"",
    ipUrl:"",
    ipLabel:"",
    customerId:"7657",
    addressId:"98760",
    combined:null,
    showReviews:!0
}';

$tokens = [
    'T_OPEN_BRACE'      => '\{',
    'T_CLOSE_BRACE'     => '\}',
    'T_NULL'            => '\bnull\b',
    'T_ENCAP_STRING'    => '\".*?(?<!\\\\)\"',
    'T_COLON'           => ':',
    'T_COMMA'           => ',',
    'T_STRING'          => '[-a-z0-9_.!]+',
    'T_WHITESPACE'      => '[\r\n\s\t]+',
    'T_UNKNOWN'         => '.+?'
];

var_export( parseJson($str, $tokens) );

Outputs ( this is what everyone wants )

array (
  'party' => 'bases',
  'number' => '1',
  'id' => 'xx_3039366',
  'url' => 'systen01-ny.com',
  'target' => '_self',
  'address' => 'Chão as Alminhas-Medas,Uteiros de Gatos e Fontes Longaq<br/>64320-761 ANHADOS LdA',
  'coordinate' => 
  array (
    'x' => '90.995262145996094',
    'y' => '-1.3394836426',
  ),
  'contactDetails' => 
  array (
    'id' => '366',
    'phone' => 'xxxxxx',
    'mobile' => '',
    'fax' => 'xxxx 777 235',
    'c2c' => '!0',
  ),
  'parameters' => 'Flex Amável Silva,hal,,EN_30336,S,786657,1,0,',
  'text' => 'Vila Nova de Loz Côa,os melhores vinhos, várias. Produtor/exportador/comércio',
  'website' => NULL,
  'mail' => '',
  'listing' => 'paid',
  'pCode' => '64',
  'name' => 'xpto Amável Costa',
  'logo' => 
  array (
    'src' => 'http://ny.test.gif',
    'altname' => 'xpto Amável Costa',
  ),
  'bookingUrl' => '',
  'ipUrl' => '',
  'ipLabel' => '',
  'customerId' => '7657',
  'addressId' => '98760',
  'combined' => NULL,
  'showReviews' => '!0',
)

And you can even test it here ( because I am a nice guy )

http://sandbox.onlinephpfunctions.com/code/3c1dcafb59abbf19f7f3209724dbdd4a46546c57

I was able to fix the encoding issues \u00e etc with help of this SO post, so a shout out to them, because I hate character encoding.

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2934563/how-to-decode-unicode-escape-sequences-like-u00ed-to-proper-utf-8-encoded-char

Man I just love a beautiful piece of code, just umm.

Cheers!