json decode returns empty string

Question

here is my origin code:

$returnArray=array(
    'loginUrl'=>$url."/?page_id=2732",
    'clientNumber'=>$clientNumber,
    'clientName'=>$_SESSION['userName']
);
echo json_encode($returnArray);

and here is my receiving end code:

$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($ch,CURLOPT_URL, $url);
curl_setopt($ch,CURLOPT_POST, count($fields));
curl_setopt($ch,CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $fields_string);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1); 

$result = trim(curl_exec($ch));

curl_close($ch);

$result = json_decode($result,true);

And finally here is the $result var_dump

string(194) "
{"loginUrl":"http:\/\/www.xxxxxxxxxxxx.co.il\/chtsystem\/?page_id=2732","clientNumber":"11111","clientName":"\u05d0\u05d1\u05d9 \u05d4\u05de\u05d3\u05d1\u05d9\u05e8 - www.yyy-yyyyyyy.co.il"}"

$result comes out null from the decode, when printing json errors I can see "JSON_ERROR_SYNTAX" is on

what is wrong here?

You have a new line or a BOM character before output. check that. — Mihai Iorga
– Mihai Iorga, Commented Nov 16, 2012 at 9:19
@MihaiIorga does a leading newline trip json_decode? I don't think it should. — John Dvorak
– John Dvorak, Commented Nov 16, 2012 at 9:22
@JanDvorak i was to lazy to correct myself, I wanted to say that there is a new line that is generated by an UTF8 BOM character. — Mihai Iorga
– Mihai Iorga, Commented Nov 16, 2012 at 9:36

Álvaro González · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-16 13:48:25Z

1

There's nothing wrong in having a leading new line in your JSON string. But you probably have a UTF-8 BOM and json_decode() can't cope with that.

The most likely source for the BOM is your IDE or text editor. Verify its settings and make sure that UTF-8 files are saved without BOM. Such BOM is not mandatory and it normally just creates problems like this one.

Update:

You can replace this:

var_dump($result);

... with this:

var_dump(bin2hex($result));

... to obtain a more accurate view of your JSON string contents. A UTF-8 BOM would reveal itself as:

efbbbf...

edited Nov 16, 2012 at 13:48

answered Nov 16, 2012 at 9:29

Álvaro González

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7 Comments

lior r Over a year ago

well i have saved both ends using UTF-8 no BOM and still it comes out NULL

Álvaro González Over a year ago

Use bin2hex() to determine the exact character before the actual JSON output.

lior r Over a year ago

can you elaborate more on how to use ?

Álvaro González Over a year ago

@liorr - Alright, I see I'm not being clear. I've updated my answer.

lior r Over a year ago

thanks , this is the result string(120) "efbbbf0a3c64697620636c6173733d27657272273ed79ed7a1d7a4d7a820d794d79ed7a9d7aad79ed7a920d7a9d792d795d799203c2f6469763e2d31"

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