title: Why can't I store information from this php object?
body: <p>I am trying to store a specific string from a php object called <code>$json</code>, which is the json_decoded response from a web service I call.  In the course of debugging my problem, I echo out a serialized version of the string I am trying to store.  This displays <code>s:12:"392-445-9987";</code>, which is exactly what I want.  It is a string of length 12, and is the correct value.  However when I try to assign it to <code>$number</code> the code dies and never reaches the next line.</p>
  
  <pre><code>if(isset($json-&gt;AddressService-&gt;response-&gt;phones)) {
     echo "&lt;textarea rows=50 cols=100&gt;" . serialize($json-&gt;AddressService-&gt;response-&gt;phones[0]-&gt;phone_number) . "&lt;/textarea&gt;";
     $number = $json-&gt;AddressService-&gt;response-&gt;phones[0]-&gt;phone_number;
     echo "I never reach this line!";
  }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>What am I missing?  How do I save the string to the variable?</p>
  
  <p>Thank so much for any thoughts you have.</p>