PHP json_encode and javascript functions

Question

I need to encode a javascript function into a JSON object in PHP.

This:

$function = "function(){}";
$message = "Hello";

$json = array(   
      'message' => $message,
      'func' => $function
);
echo json_encode($json);

outputs:

{"message":"Hello","func":"function(){}"}

What I want is:

{"message":"Hello","func":function(){}}

Can I do this with json_encode?

Answer 1

No. JSON spec does not support functions. You can write your own code to output it in a JSON-like format and it should work fine though.

Answer 2

As Jani said, this is not possible directly with JSON, but this might help you : http://solutoire.com/2008/06/12/sending-javascript-functions-over-json/

Answer 3

If don't want to write your own JSON encoder you can resort to Zend_Json, the JSON encoder for the Zend Framework. It includes the capability to cope with JSON expressions.