- json_decode: documentation ( source)
<?php
$a = '{ "cols": [{"id":"","label":"Option","pattern":"","type":"string"},
{"id":"","label":"Vote","pattern":"","type":"number"}],
"rows": [{"c":[{"v":"Excited","f":null},{"v":1,"f":null}]},
{"c":[{"v":"Bored","f":null},{"v":2,"f":null}]},
{"c":[{"v":"Neutral","f":null},{"v":3,"f":null}]}]}';
echo json_decode($a, true);