--- layout: default title: Converting a collection into a JSON --- # JSON conversion The `JsonConverter` converts or store a collection into a JSON structure.

Because we are building a JSON structure, the JsonConverter object throws generic SPL Exception instead of League\Csv\Exception.

To reduce memory usage, the converter transforms one collection element at a time. This means that the class settings are geared toward a single element and not the whole collection. The only pre-requisite is that each element of your collection must either be an object implementing the `JsonSerializable` interface or a PHP structure that can be encoded via `json_encode`. ## Instantiation To create a new `JsonConverter` instance you can call its constructor or the `create` named constructor. The latter is deprecated since version `9.22.0` and will be removed whenever the next major version is released. ```diff - JsonConverter::create()->download($record); + (new JsonConverter())->download($record); ``` With the release of `PHP8.4`, the parenthesis around the constructor are no longer needed. ```php (new JsonConverter())->download($record); //old usage (deprecated in PHP8.4+) new JsonConverter()->download($record); //new and fast-forward method usage ``` ## Settings Prior to converting your collection into a JSON structure, you may wish to configure it. ### JSON encode flags ```php public JsonConverter::addFlags(int ...$flag): self public JsonConverter::removeFlags(int ...$flag): self public JsonConverter::useFlags(int ...$flag): bool ``` These methods set the JSON flags to be used during conversion. The method handles all the flags supported by PHP `json_encode` function. If you prefer a more expressive way for setting the flags you can use the `with*` and `without*` methods whose name are derived from PHP JSON constants. ```php $converter = (new JsonConverter()) ->addFlags(JSON_PRETTY_PRINT, JSON_HEX_QUOT, JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES, JSON_FORCE_OBJECT) ->removeFlags(JSON_HEX_QUOT); //is equivalent to $converter = (new JsonConverter()) ->withPrettyPrint() ->withHexQuot() ->withUnescapedSlashes() ->withForceObject() ->withoutHexQuot(); ```

The class always uses the JSON_THROW_ON_ERROR flag to enable stopping the conversion in case of an error. That's why adding or removing the flag using the methods will have no effect on its usage, the flag is ALWAYS set.

To quickly check which flags is being used, calle the `JsonConverter::useFlags` method. As for the other methods a more expressive way exists. ```php $converter = (new JsonConverter()) ->addFlags(JSON_PRETTY_PRINT, JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES, JSON_FORCE_OBJECT) ->removeFlags(JSON_HEX_QUOT); $converter->useFlags(JSON_PRETTY_PRINT, JSON_FORCE_OBJECT); //returns true both flags are used $converter->useFlags(JSON_PRETTY_PRINT, JSON_HEX_QUOT); //returns false at least one of the flag is not set $converter->usePrettyPrint(); // returns true the flag is used $converter->useThrowOnError(); // returns true the flag is always used $converter->useHexQuot(); // returns false the flag is not used $converter->flags; //returns the actual flags value (as used by json_encode) ```

Starting with version 9.19.0 use JsonConverter::withPrettyPrint to directly set the indent size with the argument $identSize to its call

```php $converter = (new JsonConverter())->withPrettyPrint(2); ``` will produce a JSON with an indentation size of `2`. ### Json encode depth ```php public JsonConverter::depth(int $depth): self ``` This method sets the JSON depth value during conversion. The method is a proxy to using the `json_encode` depth parameter. ```php $converter = (new JsonConverter())->depth(2); $converter->depth; //returns the actual depth value (as used by json_encode) ``` ### Json encode indentation

This method is deprecated as of version 9.19.0 use JsonConverter::withPrettyPrint instead and add the $identSize argument to its call

```php public JsonConverter::indentSize(int $indentSize): self ``` This method sets the JSON indentation size value if you use the `JSON_PRETTY_PRINT` flag. In all other situation this value stored via this method is never used. By default, the indentation size is the same as in PHP (ie : 4 characters long). ```diff - $converter = (new JsonConverter())->indentSize(2); + $converter = (new JsonConverter())->withPrettyPrint(2); $converter->indentSize; //returns the value used ``` ### Json encode formatter ```php public JsonConverter::formatter(?callable $formatter): self ``` This method allow to apply a callback prior to `json_encode` your collection individual item. Since the encoder does not rely on PHP's `JsonSerializable` interface but on PHP's `iterable` structure. The resulting conversion may differ to what you expect. This callback allows you to specify how each item will be converted. The formatter should return a type that can be handled by PHP `json_encode` function. ### Chunk Size

available since version 9.18.0

```php public JsonConverter::chunkSize(int $chunkSize): self ``` This method sets the number of rows to buffer before convert into JSON string. This allow for faster conversion while retaining the low memory usage. Of course, the default chunk size can vary for one scenario to another. The correct size is therefore left to the user discretion. By default, the value is `500`. The value can not be lower than one otherwise a exception will be thrown. ```php $converter = (new JsonConverter())->chunkSize(1_000); $converter->chunkSize; //returns the value used ``` ### JsonConverter::when

New feature introduced in version 9.22.0

This method allows to conditionally create your converter depending on the success or failure of a condition. ```php use League\Csv\JsonConverter; $converter = (new JsonConverter()); if ($condition) { $converter = $converter->chunkSize(1_000); } else { $converter = $converter->chunkSize(200); } ``` becomes ```php $stmt = (new JsonConverter()) ->when( $condition, fn (JsonConverter $c) => $c->chunkSize(1_000), fn (JsonConverter $c) => $c->chunkSize(200), ); ) ``` The `else` expression is not required but if present in **MUST BE** a callable which only accepts the `JsonConverter` instance and returns `null` or a `JsonConverter` instance. The only requirements are: - that the condition is a `boolean` or a callable that returns a `boolean`. - the callback returns a `JsonConverter` instance or null. ## Conversion ```php public JsonConverter::convert(iterable $records): iterable public JsonConverter::encode(iterable $records): string public JsonConverter::save(iterable $records, mixed $destination, $context = null): int ``` The `JsonConverter::convert` accepts an `iterable` which represents the records collection and returns a `iterable` structure lazily converted to JSON one item at a time to avoid high memory usage. The class is built to handle large collection but can be used with small ones if needed. The `JsonConverter::encode` and `JsonConverter::save` methods are sugar syntactic methods to ease storing the JSON in a file or displaying it in its full JSON string representation. Here's a conversion example: ```php $document = Reader::createFromPath(__DIR__.'/test_files/prenoms.csv'); $document->setDelimiter(';'); $document->setHeaderOffset(0); CharsetConverter::addTo($document, 'iso-8859-15', 'utf-8'); $converter = (new JsonConverter()) ->withPrettyPrint(2) ->withUnescapedSlashes() ->depth(2) ->formatter(function (array $row) { $row['nombre'] = (int) $row['nombre']; $row['annee'] = (int) $row['annee']; $row['sexe'] = $row['sexe'] === 'M' ? 'male' : 'female'; //other attributes of $row are not affected //and will be rendered as they are. return $row; }); echo $converter->encode($document->slice(3, 2)), PHP_EOL; ``` This will produce the following response: ```json [ { "prenoms": "Abdoulaye", "nombre": 15, "sexe": "male", "annee": 2004 }, { "prenoms": "Abel", "nombre": 14, "sexe": "male", "annee": 2004 } ] ``` Of note, if your data is not encoded in `UTF-8` it will trigger a JSON exception. In our example, we first convert The document data to `utf-8` using the `CharsetConverter` class to avoid the exception triggering. If we wanted to store the data instead of displaying it we could do the following ```diff - echo $converter->encode($document), PHP_EOL; + $converter->save($document, 'my/new/document.json'); ``` the generated JSON will then be stored at the `my/new/document.json` path. The destination path can be specified using: - a `SplFileObject` instance; - a `SplFileInfo` instance; - a resource created by `fopen`; - a string; If you provide a string or a `SplFileInfo` instance: - the file will be open using the `w` open mode. - You can provide an additional `$context` parameter, a la `fopen`, to fine tune where and how the JSON file will be stored. ## JSON Format

available since version 9.25.0

When exporting a collection to JSON, you can choose between two output styles: - **Standard JSON** – the entire collection is represented as a single JSON array. - **JSON Lines (LDJSON)** – each record is written as a separate [JSON object on its own line](https://jsonlines.org/). The `JsonConverter::format` method allows you to configure which style to use: ```php use League\Csv\JsonConverter; use League\Csv\JsonFormat; echo (new JsonConverter()) ->format(JsonFormat::LdJson) ->encode([ ['city' => 'Accra', 'country' => 'Ghana'], ['city' => 'Nouakchott', 'country' => 'Mauritania'], ['city' => 'Gaborone', 'country' => 'Botswana'], ]); // returns // {"city":"Accra","country":"Ghana"} // {"city":"Nouakchott","country":"Mauritania"} // {"city":"Gaborone","country":"Botswana"} ``` You can inspect the current format via the `JsonConverter::format` property. This property always contains one of the `JsonFormat` enum values: - `JsonFormat::Standard`— produces a single JSON array containing all records. - `JsonFormat::LdJson` — produces one JSON object per line.

The converter does not restrict JSON encoding options when using JsonFormat::LdJson. For example, enabling JSON_PRETTY_PRINT will still work, but it will technically generate a non-compliant JSON Lines output.

When JsonFormat::LdJson is selected, the chunksize feature is disabled.

## Download

If you are using the package inside a framework please use the framework recommended way instead of the describe mechanism hereafter.

To download the generated JSON you can use the `JsonConverter::download` method. The method returns the total number of bytes sent just like the `JsonConverter::save` method and enable downloading the JSON on the fly. ### General purpose ```php use League\Csv\Reader; use League\Csv\JsonConverter; $reader = Reader::createFromPath('file.csv'); $reader->setHeaderOffset(0); header('Cache-Control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate'); header('Pragma: no-cache'); header('Expires: 0'); header('Content-Type: application/json; charset=UTF-8'); header('Content-Description: File Transfer'); header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="name-for-your-file.json"'); (new JsonConverter())->download($reader); die; ``` In this scenario, you have to specify all the headers for the file to be downloaded. ### Using a filename If you want to reduce the number of headers to write you can specify the downloaded filename. ```php use League\Csv\Reader; use League\Csv\JsonConverter; $reader = Reader::createFromPath('file.csv'); $reader->setHeaderOffset(0); header('Cache-Control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate'); header('Pragma: no-cache'); header('Expires: 0'); //the filename will be the name of the downloaded json as shown by your HTTP client! (new JsonConverter())->download($reader, 'generated_file.json'); die; ```

The caching headers are given as an example for using additional headers, it is up to the user to decide if those headers are needed or not.