Doc #65907 [Opn->Fbk]: json_decode returns NULL if input is NULL

Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=65907&edit=1 ID: 65907 Updated by: yohgaki@php.net Reported by: bsasser at sindtech dot net Summary: json_decode returns NULL if input is NULL -Status: Open +Status: Feedback Type: Documentation Problem Package: JSON related Operating System: Linux/GNU PHP Version: Irrelevant Block user comment: N Private report: N New Comment: I guess you are using Debian or Ubuntu aren't you? IIRC, there is similar bug reports from these OS users. BTW, my PHP from Fedora 19 returns null/true/false as expected. Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2013-10-16 00:36:13] bsasser at sindtech dot net Description: ------------ --- From manual page: http://www.php.net/function.json-encode#refsect1-function.json-encode-returnvalues --- It states "Return Values Returns a JSON encoded string on success or FALSE on failure." Except, when input is NULL, it returns NULL, not FALSE. Ref. bug #49588 where the following comment is made: " [2012-07-02 16:58 UTC] gudjonj at gmail dot com To return null if encoding is incorrect makes no sense." This is not a duplicate - this is expressly for NULL as input (all other bug reports involve special characters/local issues). However, the comment is correct - returning NULL [for any reason] if encoding makes no sense. Test script: --------------- $a = NULL; $b = FALSE; $c = array("Hello","world!"); var_dump(json_encode($a)); var_dump(json_encode($b)); var_dump(json_encode($c)); Expected result: ---------------- When encoding NULL, FALSE is the expected output (not just because it makes sense, but because the documentation says so ;-) ). Actual result: -------------- NULL ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=65907&edit=1