How can I convert PHP Associative Arrays to JSON?

September 26, 2022

I’m trying to convert a small JSON to PHP Associative Arrays, but I’m missing a simple thing. Please check the following:

JSON to convert:

    $data = '{
        "intent": "CAPTURE",
        
        "purchase_units": [{
              "amount": {
                "currency_code": "EUR",
                "value": "211.00",
              }
        }],     
    }';

My wrong PHP Associative Arrays:

$data = array(
    "intent" => "CAPTURE",
    "purchase_units" => array(
        "amount" => array(
            "currency_code" => "EUR",
            "value" => "211.00",
        ),
    ),
);

My PHP code doesn’t let me pass this JSON, there must be a small thing I’m missing. Please could you help?

Thank you very much!

>Solution :

The value of purchase_amounts should be an array of associative arrays.

$data = array(
    "intent" => "CAPTURE",
    "purchase_units" => array(array(
        "amount" => array(
            "currency_code" => "EUR",
            "value" => "211.00",
        ),
    )),
);

Since PHP allows you to use [] notation for array literals, the simplest way to do this is to just copy the JSON. Replace {} with [] and : with =>

$data = [
        "intent" => "CAPTURE",
        
        "purchase_units" => [[
              "amount" => [
                "currency_code" => "EUR",
                "value" => "211.00",
              ]
        ]],     
    ];