json encode is not working with array of objects

Question

I want to convert array of objects to json encoding, I make like this

$allVisits = $mapper->getAllVisits($year, $month);
echo json_encode($allVisits);
         


        

Answer 1

By default, json_encode() only serializes public properties of an object. Making all properties you want serialized public is NOT the solution! PHP 5.4 and later has the JsonSerializable interface, but I propose a straightforward solution for earlier versions of PHP.

Since JsonSerializable is only part of PHP 5.4 and later, create it yourself.

if (!interface_exists('JsonSerializable')) {
   interface JsonSerializable {
      public function jsonSerialize();
   }
}

That wasn't so hard, was it? Now we can implement JsonSerializable without worrying about what version of PHP we are using!

class Visits_Model_Visit implements JsonSerializable {
    ...
    // Only put properties here that you want serialized.
    public function jsonSerialize() {
        return Array(
           'day'    => $this->day,
           'date'   => $this->date,
           'target' => $this->target,
           'id'     => $this->id,
           'status' => $this->status,
           'obj'    => $this->obj->jsonSerialize(), // example for other objects
           'time'   => $this->time
        );
    }
    ...
}

Now you can just call jsonSerialize() to get an associative array that you can encode with json_encode().

    ...
    $entry = new Visits_Model_Visit();
    $entry->setId($row->visit_id)
          ->setDay($row->day)
          ->setDate($row->date)
          ->setTarget($row->target)
          ->setStatus($row->visit_status)
          ->setTime($row->visit_time);

    $visitsEntries[] = $entry->jsonSerialize();
    ...

You may then call json_encode($visitsEntries) to get your desired result.

[
   {
      "day":"sunday",
      "date":"2012-03-06",
      "target":"\u0634\u0633\u064a",
      "id":1,
      "status":0,
      "time":"12:00:00"
   },
   {
      "day":"sunday",
      "date":"2012-03-06",
      "target":"clinnics",
      "id":4,
      "status":0,
      "time":"00:00:00"
   },
   ...
]