json newb... can't parse this string

[sptrsn]

I'm trying the fetch some geocode data from mapquest. Google doesn't like me right now. I keep running into the query_limit. So I want to set a back up that will go into production when I get that error from the big G.

 

I have my api key and I can put the string in a var.

$geocode = file_get_contents($url)

I selected json as the output and when I echo $geocode... here is the first portion of the string....(I want lat & lng)

 

renderOptions({"results":[{"locations":[{"latLng":{"lng":-112.35984,"lat":34.58752},.....

Now for the life of me, I can't do anything with it.

I've tried json_decode() with the true argument there and not.

$output = json_decode($geocode, true);
$output = json_decode($geocode);

vardump($output) is NULL.

 

So, I thought, well maybe I don't need to decode it, but I can't figure out how to parse it.

 

I'm lost. This admittedly is my first attempt as trying to work with a jason object, but jeesh, it doesn't seem like it should be that hard.

Can someone start me in the right direction?

[ManiacDan]

Can we see all of this string? 

[requinix]

If the string actually includes "renderOptions" then you're pulling from the wrong page. You should be getting strictly JSON back:

{"results":[{"locations":[{"latLng":{"lng":-112.35984,"lat":34.58752},.....

[sptrsn]

I was actually just stripping the renderOptions  portion of the string. Here is the entire result..

renderOptions({"results":[{"locations":[{"latLng":{"lng":-112.35984,"lat":34.58752},"adminArea4":"Yavapai County","adminArea5Type":"City","adminArea4Type":"County","adminArea5":"Prescott Valley","street":"3037 N Kings Hwy W","adminArea1":"US","adminArea3":"AZ","type":"s","displayLatLng":{"lng":-112.3596,"lat":34.58752},"linkId":40959430,"postalCode":"86314-2815","sideOfStreet":"R","dragPoint":false,"adminArea1Type":"Country","geocodeQuality":"POINT","geocodeQualityCode":"P1AAA","mapUrl":"http://www.mapquestapi.com/staticmap/v3/getmap?type=map&size=225,160&pois=purple-1,34.58752,-112.35984,0,0|¢er=34.58752,-112.35984&zoom=12&key=Fmjtd|luua2duynh,rw=o5-hr1xq&rand=1015257776","adminArea3Type":"State"}],"providedLocation":{"location":"3037 N KINGS HWY W,PRESCOTT VALLEY, AZ 86314"}}],"options":{"ignoreLatLngInput":false,"maxResults":-1,"thumbMaps":true},"info":{"copyright":{"text":"© 2012 MapQuest, Inc.","imageUrl":"http://api.mqcdn.com/res/mqlogo.gif","imageAltText":"© 2012 MapQuest, Inc."},"statuscode":0,"messages":[]}});

I trimmed the "renderOptions(" and the closing ");" then tried json_decode. still nothing.

 

[sptrsn]

Thanks requinix.

I reworked the URL, it returned a true json object and now it parses it just fine.

 

That was a goat rodeo!

 

Thanks for the input.

[Ozyank]

I'm having the same problem myself. How did you rework the "URL". Does it have something to do with the value of the callback parameter?