PHP: Count an stdClass object

Question

Hi guys,

I have a stdClass object created from json_decode that won't return the right number when I run the count($obj) function. The object has 30 properties, but the return on the count() function is say 1.

Any ideas?

Below is an example of one of the objects. (I'm requesting the daily trend information from Twitter). If this object had more than one property, the count($obj) would equal 1.

[trends] => stdClass Object
    (
        [2009-08-21 11:05] => Array
            (
                [0] => stdClass Object
                    (
                        [query] => "Follow Friday"
                        [name] => Follow Friday
                    )

                [1] => stdClass Object
                    (
                        [query] => "Inglourious Basterds" OR "Inglorious Basterds"
                        [name] => Inglourious Basterds
                    )

                [2] => stdClass Object
                    (
                        [query] => Inglourious
                        [name] => Inglourious
                    )

                [3] => stdClass Object
                    (
                        [query] => #songsincode
                        [name] => #songsincode
                    )

                [4] => stdClass Object
                    (
                        [query] => #shoutout
                        [name] => #shoutout
                    )

                [5] => stdClass Object
                    (
                        [query] => "District 9"
                        [name] => District 9
                    )

                [6] => stdClass Object
                    (
                        [query] => #howmanypeople
                        [name] => #howmanypeople
                    )

                [7] => stdClass Object
                    (
                        [query] => Ashes OR #ashes
                        [name] => Ashes
                    )

                [8] => stdClass Object
                    (
                        [query] => #youtubefail
                        [name] => #youtubefail
                    )

                [9] => stdClass Object
                    (
                        [query] => TGIF
                        [name] => TGIF
                    )

                [10] => stdClass Object
                    (
                        [query] => #wish09
                        [name] => #wish09
                    )

                [11] => stdClass Object
                    (
                        [query] => #watch
                        [name] => #watch
                    )

                [12] => stdClass Object
                    (
                        [query] => Avatar
                        [name] => Avatar
                    )

                [13] => stdClass Object
                    (
                        [query] => Ramadhan
                        [name] => Ramadhan
                    )

                [14] => stdClass Object
                    (
                        [query] => Goodnight
                        [name] => Goodnight
                    )

                [15] => stdClass Object
                    (
                        [query] => iPhone
                        [name] => iPhone
                    )

                [16] => stdClass Object
                    (
                        [query] => #iranelection
                        [name] => #iranelection
                    )

                [17] => stdClass Object
                    (
                        [query] => Apple
                        [name] => Apple
                    )

                [18] => stdClass Object
                    (
                        [query] => "Usain Bolt"
                        [name] => Usain Bolt
                    )

                [19] => stdClass Object
                    (
                        [query] => H1N1
                        [name] => H1N1
                    )

            )
     )

Answer 1

The problem is that count is intended to count the indexes in an array, not the properties on an object (unless it's a custom object that implements the Countable interface). Try casting the object, like below, as an array and seeing if that helps.

$total = count((array)$obj);

Simply casting an object as an array won't always work but being a simple stdClass object it should get the job done here.

Answer 2

The object doesn't have 30 properties. It has one, which is an array that has 30 elements. You need the number of elements in that array.

Answer 3

There is nothing wrong with count() here, "trends" is the only key that is being counted in this case, you can try doing:

count($obj->trends);

Or:

count($obj->trends['2009-08-21 11:05']);

Or maybe even doing:

count($obj, COUNT_RECURSIVE);

Answer 4

The count function is meant to be used on

1. Arrays
2. Objects that are derived from classes that implement the countable interface

A stdClass is neither of these. The easier/quickest way to accomplish what you're after is

$count = count(get_object_vars($some_std_class_object));

This uses PHP's get_object_vars function, which will return the properties of an object as an array. You can then use this array with PHP's count function.

Answer 5

The answer taken from another question answered similar to mine:

The problem is that count is intended to count the indexes in an array, not the properties on an object (unless it's a custom object that implements the Countable interface). Try casting the object, like below, as an array and seeing if that helps.

$total = count((array)$obj);

Simply casting an object as an array won't always work but being a simple stdClass object it should get the job done here.