[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #54484: REST API returns (empty) array for Meta but Schema has type object

[WordPress Trac]

#54484: REST API returns (empty) array for Meta but Schema has type object
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 Reporter:  dtrunk90      |       Owner:  flixos90
     Type:  defect (bug)  |      Status:  assigned
 Priority:  normal        |   Milestone:  6.9
Component:  REST API      |     Version:  4.7
 Severity:  normal        |  Resolution:
 Keywords:                |     Focuses:
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Changes (by flixos90):

 * owner:  (none) => flixos90
 * status:  new => assigned
 * version:  5.8.2 => 4.7
 * milestone:  Awaiting Review => 6.9


Comment:

 I realize I am finding this ticket ''very late'', but thank you for
 raising this @dtrunk90!

 The type of `meta` is `object`, so that's all correct. But the problem is
 that an empty array in PHP becomes `[]` when JSON-encoded, it doesn't make
 a difference whether it's supposed to be a regular (indexed) array (`[]`
 in JS/JSON) or an associative array (`{}` in JS/JSON). So this is
 certainly a bug.

 The workaround is to either use `JSON_FORCE_OBJECT` when JSON-encoding the
 data, or transform the empty array to an empty object (e.g. via `new
 stdClass()`).

 I think the latter fix is what's needed here, since it has to be
 determined for each specific possibly empty array individually, based on
 the JSON schema of the data. I'm going to take a closer look at this.

 This has been a bug ever since the REST API was introduced, therefore
 setting the version to `4.7`.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/54484#comment:3>
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