Pretty-Printing JSON with PHP

Question

I\'m building a PHP script that feeds JSON data to another script. My script builds data into a large associative array, and then outputs the data using json_encode

Answer 1

You can modify Kendall Hopkins' answer a little in the switch statement to get a pretty clean looking and nicely indented printout by passing a json string into the following:

function prettyPrint( $json ){

$result = '';
$level = 0;
$in_quotes = false;
$in_escape = false;
$ends_line_level = NULL;
$json_length = strlen( $json );

for( $i = 0; $i < $json_length; $i++ ) {
    $char = $json[$i];
    $new_line_level = NULL;
    $post = "";
    if( $ends_line_level !== NULL ) {
        $new_line_level = $ends_line_level;
        $ends_line_level = NULL;
    }
    if ( $in_escape ) {
        $in_escape = false;
    } else if( $char === '"' ) {
        $in_quotes = !$in_quotes;
    } else if( ! $in_quotes ) {
        switch( $char ) {
            case '}': case ']':
                $level--;
                $ends_line_level = NULL;
                $new_line_level = $level;
                $char.="
";
                for($index=0;$index<$level-1;$index++){$char.="-----";}
                break;

            case '{': case '[':
                $level++;
                $char.="
";
                for($index=0;$index<$level;$index++){$char.="-----";}
                break;
            case ',':
                $ends_line_level = $level;
                $char.="
";
                for($index=0;$index<$level;$index++){$char.="-----";}
                break;

            case ':':
                $post = " ";
                break;

            case "\t": case "\n": case "\r":
                $char = "";
                $ends_line_level = $new_line_level;
                $new_line_level = NULL;
                break;
        }
    } else if ( $char === '\\' ) {
        $in_escape = true;
    }
    if( $new_line_level !== NULL ) {
        $result .= "\n".str_repeat( "\t", $new_line_level );
    }
    $result .= $char.$post;
}

echo "RESULTS ARE: 

$result";
return $result;

}

Now just run the function prettyPrint( $your_json_string ); inline in your php and enjoy the printout. If you're a minimalist and don't like brackets for some reason, you can get rid of those easily by replacing the $char.="
"; with $char="
"; in the top three switch cases on $char. Here's what you get for a google maps API call for the city of Calgary

RESULTS ARE: 

{
- - - "results" : [
- - -- - - {
- - -- - -- - - "address_components" : [
- - -- - -- - -- - - {
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "long_name" : "Calgary"
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "short_name" : "Calgary"
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "types" : [
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "locality"
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "political" ]
- - -- - -- - -- - - }
- - -- - -- - -
- - -- - -- - -- - - {
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "long_name" : "Division No. 6"
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "short_name" : "Division No. 6"
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "types" : [
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "administrative_area_level_2"
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "political" ]
- - -- - -- - -- - - }
- - -- - -- - -
- - -- - -- - -- - - {
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "long_name" : "Alberta"
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "short_name" : "AB"
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "types" : [
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "administrative_area_level_1"
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "political" ]
- - -- - -- - -- - - }
- - -- - -- - -
- - -- - -- - -- - - {
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "long_name" : "Canada"
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "short_name" : "CA"
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "types" : [
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "country"
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "political" ]
- - -- - -- - -- - - }
- - -- - -- - - ]
- - -- - -
- - -- - -- - - "formatted_address" : "Calgary, AB, Canada"
- - -- - -- - - "geometry" : {
- - -- - -- - -- - - "bounds" : {
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "northeast" : {
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "lat" : 51.18383
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "lng" : -113.8769511 }
- - -- - -- - -- - -
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "southwest" : {
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "lat" : 50.84240399999999
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "lng" : -114.27136 }
- - -- - -- - -- - - }
- - -- - -- - -
- - -- - -- - -- - - "location" : {
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "lat" : 51.0486151
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "lng" : -114.0708459 }
- - -- - -- - -
- - -- - -- - -- - - "location_type" : "APPROXIMATE"
- - -- - -- - -- - - "viewport" : {
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "northeast" : {
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "lat" : 51.18383
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "lng" : -113.8769511 }
- - -- - -- - -- - -
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "southwest" : {
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "lat" : 50.84240399999999
- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - - "lng" : -114.27136 }
- - -- - -- - -- - - }
- - -- - -- - - }
- - -- - -
- - -- - -- - - "place_id" : "ChIJ1T-EnwNwcVMROrZStrE7bSY"
- - -- - -- - - "types" : [
- - -- - -- - -- - - "locality"
- - -- - -- - -- - - "political" ]
- - -- - - }
- - - ]

- - - "status" : "OK" }