How to converting JSON text to PHP associative array

Question

I have the following JSON Object stored in a text file(data.txt):

{"player":"black","time":"0","from":"2c","to":"3d"}

Which i read using php:

<?php
  $data = file_get_contents('data.txt');
?>

Question: Is there an easy way to convert $data to a PHP associative array. I have tried using json_decode($data); but that did not work, any suggestions?

Answer 1

$assocArray = json_decode($data, true);

The second parameter set the result as an object(false, default) or an associative array(true).

Answer 2

Try: json_decode($data, true)

http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.json-decode.php

It worked for me. Also, make sure your PHP version has json_encode / json_decode