Unknown JSON decoding error -- adding MRSS output method

[mshmsh5000]

One implementation of MAPI calls using the PHP class is failing (PHP 5.2.14) because of a JSON decoding error. Because json_last_error() isn't available in PHP < 5.3.0, I can't debug.

I am implementing the MRSS option in the PHP-MAPI-Wrapper because that's the only way I see around this.

[mcongrove]

Can you provide more information on where exactly it's failing, and what you're trying to do when it does?

[mshmsh5000]

$bc = new BCMAPI($bc_api_key);
$videos_all = $bc->find('allvideos');

In BCMAPI::getData():

$response_object = json_decode(preg_replace('/[[:cntrl:]]/', '', $response));

renders an empty object. No error messages are available. My updated code in this method:

$response_object = json_decode(preg_replace('/[[:cntrl:]]/', '', $response));

if (empty($response_object) && function_exists('json_last_error')) {
  $json_errors = array(
    JSON_ERROR_NONE => 'No error has occurred',
    JSON_ERROR_DEPTH => 'The maximum stack depth has been exceeded',
    JSON_ERROR_CTRL_CHAR => 'Control character error, possibly incorrectly encoded',
    JSON_ERROR_SYNTAX => 'Syntax error',
  );
  echo 'JSON error: ', $json_errors[json_last_error()], PHP_EOL, PHP_EOL;
  exit;
}
else {
  echo 'JSON error, but can\'t debug, because your version of PHP is too old.';
  exit;
}

With this, the result of my calling

$videos_all = $bc->find('allvideos');

is JSON error, but can't debug, because your version of PHP is too old.

I'm definitely receiving the full JSON response from BC -- I've verified that, and as I said, when I request MRSS I can parse the results without a problem.

[mcongrove]

That's certainly odd. I've tested on my PHP 5.2 implementation and all is fine.

Can you do me a favor and try the following?

echo "Raw data:\n";
print_r($response);
echo "<hr />";

$response_object = json_decode(preg_replace('/[[:cntrl:]]/', '', $response));

echo "Original:\n";
print_r($response_object);
echo "<hr />";

$response_object = json_decode($response);

echo "No Regex:\n";
print_r($response_object);

[mshmsh5000]

Interesting -- looks like the regex.

$response returns the raw response, as expected. "Original" is blank. "No Regex" is a proper decoded response:

---

Original:

---

No Regex: stdClass Object ( [items] => Array ( [0] => stdClass Object ( [id] =>...

So, may not be a JSON issue at all, but a preg_replace issue. When I do run the preg_replace(), preg_last_error() returns 0. There may be a character set problem. For instance, I see this in the response:

Whatever your hair type, we’ve got the lowdown on the best brush for you

Indeed, changing the preg_replace line to

$response_object = json_decode(preg_replace('/[[:cntrl:]]/u', '', $response));

works fine. I think that's the fix for this case.

[mcongrove]

Awesome, thanks for that information. It's an odd issue (I don't see how the regex would clear the data entirely), but we'll look into a solution.

In the meantime, just kill the regex in your version of the code and you should be good to go.

Thanks again!

[mshmsh5000]

Should have been more clear -- keep the regex, just pass the /u flag at the end of the expression. This works fine, because the root cause appears to be a regex error on char data coming from Brightcove.

http://us2.php.net/manual/en/reference.pcre.pattern.modifiers.php

[mcongrove]

Ah, sorry, didn't notice the new modifier. Sounds great! I'll try and get a new release out tonight with the /u modifier.

Thanks once more for helping debug and solve the issue. Much appreciated!

[mcongrove]

Actually, went ahead and updated it. Source code is fixed.