PHP json_encode - JSON_FORCE_OBJECT mixed object and array output

Question

I have a PHP data structure I want to JSON encode. It can contain a number of empty arrays, some of which need to be encoded as arrays and some of which need to be encoded as objects.

For instance, lets say I have this data structure:

$foo = array(   "bar1" => array(), // Should be encoded as an object   "bar2" => array() // Should be encoded as an array ); 

I would like to encode this into:

{   "bar1": {},   "bar2": [] }    

But if I use json_encode($foo, JSON_FORCE_OBJECT) I will get objects as:

{   "bar1": {},   "bar2": {} } 

And if I use json_encode($foo) I will get arrays as:

{   "bar1": [],   "bar2": [] } 

Is there any way to encode the data (or define the arrays) so I get mixed arrays and objects?

Answer 1

Create bar1 as a new stdClass() object. That will be the only way for json_encode() to distinguish it. It can be done by calling new stdClass(), or casting it with (object)array()

$foo = array(   "bar1" => new stdClass(), // Should be encoded as an object   "bar2" => array() // Should be encoded as an array );  echo json_encode($foo); // {"bar1":{}, "bar2":[]} 

OR by typecasting:

$foo = array(   "bar1" => (object)array(), // Should be encoded as an object   "bar2" => array() // Should be encoded as an array );  echo json_encode($foo); // {"bar1":{}, "bar2":[]}