toJson($options = 0)
The toJson method will return a JSON encoded version of the data stored within the collection instance. It internally does this by returning a call to PHP's json_encode function, passing in any $options that were supplied. Like the json_encode function, the $options parameter is a bitmask of the predefined JSON constants.
1<?php
2
3// Create a new collection instance.
4$collection = new Collection([
5 ['name' => 'Shirley', 'age' => 60],
6 ['name' => 'John', 'age' => 55]
7]);
8
9// Convert the collection to JSON.
10$jsonValue = $collection->toJson();
After the above code executes, $jsonValue would contain the following value:
1[{"name":"Shirley","age":60},{"name":"John","age":55}]
Alternatively, a well-formatted value can be returned by passing in the JSON_PRETTY_PRINT constant:
1<?php
2
3// Create a new collection instance.
4$collection = new Collection([
5 ['name' => 'Shirley', 'age' => 60],
6 ['name' => 'John', 'age' => 55]
7]);
8
9// Convert the collection to JSON.
10$jsonValue = $collection->toJson(JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);
This time, the $jsonValue would contain the following value:
1[
2 {
3 "name": "Shirley",
4 "age": 60
5 },
6 {
7 "name": "John",
8 "age": 55
9 }
10]
#toJson and Deeply Nested Data Structures
The toJson method internally makes a call to PHP's json_encode function. Unlike json_encode, toJson does not provide a way to specify the depth (essentially how many arrays are nested inside of each other) to which data will be encoded, which is by default set to 512. To convert a collection instance into its JSON equivalent with a depth greater than 512, the following method will be sufficient:
1<?php
2
3use Illuminate\Support\Collection;
4
5// Create a new collection instance.
6$collection = new Collection([]);
7
8// Replace 512 with the desired depth.
9$jsonValue = json_encode($collection->jsonSerialize(), 0, 512);
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