JSON -> PHP array, difficult finding index path to certain value

Question

I have a JSON string that I've converted into a associative PHP array using "json_decode". For some reason I can't seem to figure out how to find the index path to the value I'm looking for inside the array.

Here's the JSON string:

    {
  "status": "OK",
  "results": [ {
    "types": [ "street_address" ],
    "formatted_address": "175 Hemenway St, Boston, MA 02115, USA",
    "address_components": [ {
      "long_name": "175",
      "short_name": "175",
      "types": [ "street_number" ]
    }, {
      "long_name": "Hemenway St",
      "short_name": "Hemenway St",
      "types": [ "route" ]
    }, {
      "long_name": "Boston",
      "short_name": "Boston",
      "types": [ "locality", "political" ]
    }, {
      "long_name": "Boston",
      "short_name": "Boston",
      "types": [ "administrative_area_level_3", "political" ]
    }, {
      "long_name": "Suffolk",
      "short_name": "Suffolk",
      "types": [ "administrative_area_level_2", "political" ]
    }, {
      "long_name": "Massachusetts",
      "short_name": "MA",
      "types": [ "administrative_area_level_1", "political" ]
    }, {
      "long_name": "United States",
      "short_name": "US",
      "types": [ "country", "political" ]
    }, {
      "long_name": "02115",
      "short_name": "02115",
      "types": [ "postal_code" ]
    } ],
    "geometry": {
      "location": {
        "lat": 42.3411740,
        "lng": -71.0912860
      },
      "location_type": "ROOFTOP",
      "viewport": {
        "southwest": {
          "lat": 42.3380264,
          "lng": -71.0944336
        },
        "northeast": {
          "lat": 42.3443216,
          "lng": -71.0881384
        }
      }
    }
  } ]
}

and here is the var_dump output of the associative array in PHP

array(2) { ["status"]=> string(2) "OK" ["results"]=> array(1) { [0]=> array(4) { ["types"]=> array(1) { [0]=> string(14) "street_address" } ["formatted_address"]=> string(38) "175 Hemenway St, Boston, MA 02115, USA" ["address_components"]=> array(8) { [0]=> array(3) { ["long_name"]=> string(3) "175" ["short_name"]=> string(3) "175" ["types"]=> array(1) { [0]=> string(13) "street_number" } } [1]=> array(3) { ["long_name"]=> string(11) "Hemenway St" ["short_name"]=> string(11) "Hemenway St" ["types"]=> array(1) { [0]=> string(5) "route" } } [2]=> array(3) { ["long_name"]=> string(6) "Boston" ["short_name"]=> string(6) "Boston" ["types"]=> array(2) { [0]=> string(8) "locality" [1]=> string(9) "political" } } [3]=> array(3) { ["long_name"]=> string(6) "Boston" ["short_name"]=> string(6) "Boston" ["types"]=> array(2) { [0]=> string(27) "administrative_area_level_3" [1]=> string(9) "political" } } [4]=> array(3) { ["long_name"]=> string(7) "Suffolk" ["short_name"]=> string(7) "Suffolk" ["types"]=> array(2) { [0]=> string(27) "administrative_area_level_2" [1]=> string(9) "political" } } [5]=> array(3) { ["long_name"]=> string(13) "Massachusetts" ["short_name"]=> string(2) "MA" ["types"]=> array(2) { [0]=> string(27) "administrative_area_level_1" [1]=> string(9) "political" } } [6]=> array(3) { ["long_name"]=> string(13) "United States" ["short_name"]=> string(2) "US" ["types"]=> array(2) { [0]=> string(7) "country" [1]=> string(9) "political" } } [7]=> array(3) { ["long_name"]=> string(5) "02115" ["short_name"]=> string(5) "02115" ["types"]=> array(1) { [0]=> string(11) "postal_code" } } } ["geometry"]=> array(3) { ["location"]=> array(2) { ["lat"]=> float(42.341174) ["lng"]=> float(-71.091286) } ["location_type"]=> string(7) "ROOFTOP" ["viewport"]=> array(2) { ["southwest"]=> array(2) { ["lat"]=> float(42.3380264) ["lng"]=> float(-71.0944336) } ["northeast"]=> array(2) { ["lat"]=> float(42.3443216) ["lng"]=> float(-71.0881384) } } } } } }

Ideally I would like the array under the index "location" (the values under the lat & lng keys)

I can't seem to get much further than array_name["results"]

Is there maybe an alternative to var_dump that will line-separate and indent multi-level arrays so that I can understand them? I'd rather work with a direct path than recursively search through the entire array to find what I'm looking for. Thanks!

scoffey · Accepted Answer · 2011-01-17 20:05:18Z

3

Have you tried to access "location" this way?:

$location = $array_name['results'][0]['geometry']['location'];
$lat = $location['lat'];
$lng = $location['lng'];

answered Jan 17, 2011 at 20:05

scoffey

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2 Comments

Casey Flynn Over a year ago

That's it, thanks @scoffey. I have a lot of difficulty matching up starting/ending brackets and determining when one array ends and the other begins. Is there a good technique or are you just very good at looking at strings of data and making sense of them? haha

scoffey Over a year ago

Good editors like vim highlight matching opening/closing brackets. By the way, print_r is an alternative to var_dump. See: stackoverflow.com/questions/1168175/…

Community · Accepted Answer · 2023-11-17 19:22:09Z

2

Is there maybe an alternative to var_dump that will line-separate and indent multi-level arrays so that I can understand them?

Print_r, var dump and var export all output as separate multi-line text.

https://www.php.net/print_r
https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.var-dump.php
https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.var-export.php

You just aren't seeing it because you're viewing the rendered results of an HTML document, rather than the raw-text. View source, or replace new lines with <br/> HTML elements, or enclose the output in <pre> tags.

Remember, browsers tend to ignore whitespace such as new lines and indents when rendering.

edited Nov 17, 2023 at 19:22

CommunityBot

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answered Jan 17, 2011 at 20:10

Incognito

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