How to convert a JSON string into an array (PHP)?

Question

using the below code for decoding json

$categories = json_decode($data);
$categories = $categories->data;

where i get this

Answer 1

@Gordon seems correct - that looks like JSON. Assuming, though, that you're dealing with an "actual" PHP Object, then it will be iterable; simply run through it with a foreach and push each key/value pair into your destination array.