Why Am I Getting a JSON_ERROR_SYNTAX Error Despite Passing Validation?

JSON Decoding Error:

Despite passing validation through an online formatter, you encounter a JSON_ERROR_SYNTAX error when decoding JSON data using json_decode().

Hidden Characters and Invalid JSON:

The underlying issue lies in hidden characters that may not be immediately apparent in the JSON text. These characters are often invisible and disrupt the JSON's syntax, causing the decoder to fail.

Solution:

To address this issue, you can implement the following code provided in the response:

<code class="php">$json = file_get_contents("http://yourwebsite.com/JsonData");

// Remove unwanted characters
for ($i = 0; $i <= 31; ++$i) {
    $json = str_replace(chr($i), "", $json);
}
$json = str_replace(chr(127), "", $json);

// Handle UTF-8 BOM
if (0 === strpos(bin2hex($json), 'efbbbf')) {
    $json = substr($json, 3);
}

$obj = json_decode($json);</code>

This code removes unwanted characters, including control characters and the UTF-8 BOM (0xef-0xbb-0xbf). By removing these characters, the decoder is able to correctly parse the JSON data.

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