What I want to do is the following:
your string should be in the following format:
$str = '{"action": "create","record": {"type": "n$product","fields": {"n$name": "Bread","n$price": 2.11},"namespaces": { "my.demo": "n" }}}';
$array = json_decode($str, true);
echo "";
print_r($array);
Output:
Array
(
[action] => create
[record] => Array
(
[type] => n$product
[fields] => Array
(
[n$name] => Bread
[n$price] => 2.11
)
[namespaces] => Array
(
[my.demo] => n
)
)
)