Level 102
To return an empty array as {} you can cast it
'foo' => (object) [],
Sep 14, 2022
10
Level 3
Output Empty Arrays and Objects in JSON
I'm developing an API and need to be able to output empty arrays and objects in the returned JSON. However, I'm running into a problem where empty objects/dicts are returned as empty arrays.
Example Request Body:
{
"attributes": {
"empty_array": [],
"empty_object": {}
}
}
Actual Response:
{
"attributes": {
"empty_array": [],
"empty_object": []
}
}
Expected Response:
{
"attributes": {
"empty_array": [],
"empty_object": {}
}
}
In the model, I am casting the attribute to an ArrayObject:
protected $casts = [
'attributes' => AsArrayObject::class
];
And then in the controller, the model is handed off to an API resource:
public function store(StoreCustomerRequest $request)
{
return new CustomerResource(Customer::create($request->validated()));
}
The API resource:
public function toArray($request)
{
return [
'attributes' => $this->attributes
];
}
I'm not sure what I'm missing or doing wrong to be able to have all instances of arrays and objects/dicts (no matter the nesting level) represented in the returned JSON.
Level 3
@Sinnbeck True, but how about deeply nested arrays/objects? Are you saying I'd need to traverse the request and check for empty objects to cast in that way? If so, how can I check for empty objects in the request? It seems to be converted to an array in the request with no way to differentiate between an object and array.
Level 102
@michaelferry sorry maybe I misunderstood. Isn't it the returned data from your api resources?
Level 102
But php has no way of knowing an empty array should be an object unless you tell it to
Level 3
@Sinnbeck The problem I have is that the structure of the JSON payload for the attributes is arbitrary, so I won't know what should be an array and what should be an object. I am trying to think of a way to parse the JSON before it is decoded and cast instances of {} in the way you described (object) []. Does that sound like the right approach?
Level 1
@michaelferry Hi Michael, i am having the exact same problem, were you able to find a solution for it?
1 like
Level 3
@arturminelli I was incorrectly casting the attribute. I changed it to this to get it working:
use App\Casts\Json;
protected $casts = [
'attributes' => Json::class
];
2 likes
Level 1
@Mike From HL Thanks!
Level 1
@MikeFromHL can you explain details with Json class file?
Level 2
@masudncse you might look into custom casts from the docs
https://laravel.com/docs/10.x/eloquent-mutators#custom-casts
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