How to json_encode php array but the keys without

Question

I'm trying to plot (with Flot) a pie chart with some data

var data = <?php echo json_encode($data)?>

The result I get from that is this:

var data = [
{"label":"Crear Usuario", "data":"2"},
{"label":"Impresoras", "data":"1"},
{"label":"Problema Correo", "data":"1"},
{"label":"Requisicion Equipo", "data":"1"},
{"label":"Sitio Web", "data":"1"}
]

The problem here is that I need the label and data without the quotes, I already tried json_encode($data, JSON_NUMERIC_CHECK); but only removes the quotes from the numbers.

The following format is what I need:

var data = [
    {label:"Crear Usuario",data:2}, ...

Answer 1

First, you have to generate your array in php so the data's value are integers, not strings:

I emulated your array from your json_encode(), I guess it looks like this (or it should):

$array =  array(
                array("label" => "Crear Usuario",   "data" => 2),
                array("label" => "Impresoras",      "data" => 1),
                array("label" => "Problema Correo", "data" => 1),
                array("label" => "Requisicion Equipo", "data" => 1),
                array("label" => "Sitio Web", "data" => 1)
            );

    $data = json_encode($array);

• Notice that the 2 and 1's are unquoted, so this way they are integers, this is important.

Then you are missin in Javascript the JSON.parse() to actually make that output into a json object:

<script>
    var data = '<?php echo $data; ?>';
    var json = JSON.parse(data);
    console.log(json);
    console.log(json[0]);
</script>

• Notice that var data = ... is SINGLE QUOTED, so you catch the echo from php as a String

The console.log()'s output this for me:

[Object, Object, Object, Object, Object] // First console.log(): one object with the 5 Objects. 
Object {label: "Crear Usuario", data: 2} // secons console log (json[0]) with the first object 

Looks like what you need, am I right?

Answer 2

There's no difference between quoted and unquoted keys. The problem is with the quoting around the actual data values, since Flot requires numbers, not strings.

The json_encode function decides to whether to quote based on the type of data you're giving it. In this case it looks like whatever operations you're performing to create $data are producing string values instead of integers. You need to re-examine those operations, or explicitly tell PHP to interpret them as numbers, using (int) or (float) casting, or the intval/floatval functions.

Answer 3

Try something like this:

function buildBrokenJson( array $data ) {

   $result = '{';

   $separator = '';
   foreach( $data as $key=>$val ) {
      $result .= $separator . $key . ':';

      if( is_int( $val ) ) {
         $result .= $val;
      } elseif( is_string( $val ) ) {
         $result .= '"' . str_replace( '"', '\"', $val) . '"';
      } elseif( is_bool( $val ) ) {
         $result .= $val ? 'true' : 'false';
      } else {
         $result .= $val;
      }

      $separator = ', ';
   }

   $result .= '}';

   return $result;
}

and when run

$a = array("string"=>'Crear "Usuario', 'foo'=>':', "int"=>2, "bool"=>false);
var_dump( buildBrokenJson($a) );

it gives:

string(54) "{string:"Crear \"Usuario", foo:":", int:2, bool:false}"

Answer 4

I created a class to format json with php without quotes on the keys here is it

class JsonFormatter
{
static $result = '';
static $separator = '';

public static function iterateArray($data) : string
{
    static::$result .= '[';
    static::$separator = '';
    foreach ($data as $key => $val) {
        if (is_int($val)) {

        } elseif (is_string($val)) {
            static::$result .= '"' . str_replace('"', '\"', $val) . '"';
        } elseif (is_bool($val)) {
            static::$result .= $val ? 'true' : 'false';
        } elseif (is_object($val)) {
            static::iterateObject($val);
            static::$result .= ', ';
        } elseif (is_array($val)) {
            static::iterateArray($val);
            static::$result .= ', ';
        } else {
            static::$result .= $val;
        }
        if (!is_int($val)) {
            static::$separator = ', ';
        }
    }

    static::$result .= ']';
    return static::$result;
}

public static function iterate($data)
{
    if (is_array($data)) {
        static::iterateArray($data);
    } elseif (is_object($data)) {
        static::iterateObject($data);
    }
    return static::$result;
}

public static function iterateObject($data)
{
    static::$result .= '{';
    static::$separator = '';
    foreach ($data as $key => $val) {

        static::$result .= static::$separator . $key . ':';

        if (is_int($val)) {
            static::$result .= $val;
        } elseif (is_string($val)) {
            static::$result .= '"' . str_replace('"', '\"', $val) . '"';
        } elseif (is_bool($val)) {
            static::$result .= $val ? 'true' : 'false';
        } elseif (is_object($val)) {
            static::iterate($val, true);
            static::$result .= ', ';
        } elseif (is_array($val)) {
            static::iterateArray($val, true);
            static::$result .= ', ';
        } else {
            static::$result .= $val;
        }
        static::$separator = ', ';
    }
    static::$result .= '}';
    return static::$result;
}

}

you can now call

$jsonWithoutKeyQuotes  = JsonFormatter::iterate($data);

thanks to Marcin Orlowski