PHP: How do I get an attribute from a JSON array?

Question

I have the following JSON array:

<?php    
$json = {
  "status": "OK",
  "results": [ {
    "types": [ "street_address" ],
    "formatted_address": "5721 N Northcott Ave, Chicago, IL 60631, USA",
    "address_components": [ {
      "long_name": "5721",
      "short_name": "5721",
      "types": [ "street_number" ]
    }, {
      "long_name": "Illinois",
      "short_name": "IL",
      "types": [ "administrative_area_level_1", "political" ]
    }, {
      "long_name": "60631",
      "short_name": "60631",
      "types": [ "postal_code" ]
    } ],
    "geometry": {
      "location": {
        "lat": 41.9858860,
        "lng": -87.7907460
      },
      "location_type": "ROOFTOP",
      "viewport": {
        "southwest": {
          "lat": 41.9827384,
          "lng": -87.7938936
        },
        "northeast": {
          "lat": 41.9890336,
          "lng": -87.7875984
        }
      }
    }
  } ]
};
?>

Using PHP, how do I get the geometery->location->lat&lng values from my JSON array above?

For example (pseudo code):

<?php
$lat = $json['geometry']['location']['lat'];  // 41.9858860
$lng = $json['geometry']['location']['lng'];  // -87.7907460
?>

Answer 1

You use json_decode and then $var->results[0]->geometry->location->lat;.

json_decode yields the following structure:

object(stdClass)[1]
  public 'status' => string 'OK' (length=2)
  public 'results' => 
    array
      0 => 
        object(stdClass)[2]
          public 'types' => 
            array
              0 => string 'street_address' (length=14)
          public 'formatted_address' => string '5721 N Northcott Ave, Chicago, IL 60631, USA' (length=44)
          public 'address_components' => 
            array
              0 => 
                object(stdClass)[3]
                  public 'long_name' => string '5721' (length=4)
                  public 'short_name' => string '5721' (length=4)
                  public 'types' => 
                    array
                      0 => string 'street_number' (length=13)
              1 => 
                object(stdClass)[4]
                  public 'long_name' => string 'Illinois' (length=8)
                  public 'short_name' => string 'IL' (length=2)
                  public 'types' => 
                    array
                      0 => string 'administrative_area_level_1' (length=27)
                      1 => string 'political' (length=9)
              2 => 
                object(stdClass)[5]
                  public 'long_name' => string '60631' (length=5)
                  public 'short_name' => string '60631' (length=5)
                  public 'types' => 
                    array
                      0 => string 'postal_code' (length=11)
          public 'geometry' => 
            object(stdClass)[6]
              public 'location' => 
                object(stdClass)[7]
                  public 'lat' => float 41.985886
                  public 'lng' => float -87.790746
              public 'location_type' => string 'ROOFTOP' (length=7)
              public 'viewport' => 
                object(stdClass)[8]
                  public 'southwest' => 
                    object(stdClass)[9]
                      public 'lat' => float 41.9827384
                      public 'lng' => float -87.7938936
                  public 'northeast' => 
                    object(stdClass)[10]
                      public 'lat' => float 41.9890336
                      public 'lng' => float -87.7875984

Answer 2

You use json_decode.

E.g.:

$json_obj = json_decode($json);
echo $json_obj->results[0]->geometry->location->lat;

We access the first element of the results array, then navigate through the geometry, location, and lat properties. You can also make it use associative arrays, but the default is an object.