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Support to unserialize it too. 1.2.1(7y ago)51259.4k↑36%19[6 issues](https://github.com/nilportugues/serializer/issues)[1 PRs](https://github.com/nilportugues/serializer/pulls)6MITPHPPHP >=5.6.0 Since Jul 18Pushed 4y ago4 watchersCompare [ Source](https://github.com/nilportugues/serializer)[ Packagist](https://packagist.org/packages/nilportugues/serializer)[ Docs](http://nilportugues.com)[ RSS](/packages/nilportugues-serializer/feed)WikiDiscussions master Synced 1mo ago READMEChangelog (10)Dependencies (5)Versions (18)Used By (6) Serializer for PHP ================== [](#serializer-for-php) [![Build Status](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/62810f59b04853731cf4c2672c1dc4f6cd56b2fc26222a3cf154601c4a9384a6/68747470733a2f2f7472617669732d63692e6f72672f6e696c706f727475677565732f7068702d73657269616c697a65722e737667)](https://travis-ci.org/nilportugues/php-serializer)[![Scrutinizer Code Quality](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/6f10efd0a5fc0c8bd800396e898ddd45c98ef2d37530bc9f0396138e2c6d9351/68747470733a2f2f7363727574696e697a65722d63692e636f6d2f672f6e696c706f727475677565732f73657269616c697a65722f6261646765732f7175616c6974792d73636f72652e706e673f623d6d6173746572)](https://scrutinizer-ci.com/g/nilportugues/serializer/?branch=master) [![SensioLabsInsight](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/436039aa6480e096a314a1853fcda557ee1c4615496a443c3c1504a53f29955d/68747470733a2f2f696e73696768742e73656e73696f6c6162732e636f6d2f70726f6a656374732f37616530356262612d393835642d343335392d386130302d3332303966383566316437372f6d696e692e706e673f)](https://insight.sensiolabs.com/projects/7ae05bba-985d-4359-8a00-3209f85f1d77)[![Latest Stable Version](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/bd142ef08a3fa7efba9752737a7d5bdb32aea51c75546eb92b107cada9fdce4c/68747470733a2f2f706f7365722e707567782e6f72672f6e696c706f727475677565732f73657269616c697a65722f762f737461626c65)](https://packagist.org/packages/nilportugues/serializer)[![Total Downloads](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/22abb9327c784c361e01842293cda207cc7f1068ffaf3307489350fe8c306657/68747470733a2f2f706f7365722e707567782e6f72672f6e696c706f727475677565732f73657269616c697a65722f646f776e6c6f616473)](https://packagist.org/packages/nilportugues/serializer) [![License](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/244e241d5cd3efde2005bb5e97876bd26a43cb5557e6a48c954e4c7d82166545/68747470733a2f2f706f7365722e707567782e6f72672f6e696c706f727475677565732f73657269616c697a65722f6c6963656e7365)](https://packagist.org/packages/nilportugues/serializer)[![Donate](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/7b6de155df30b37b25eb5fec52f9213680c3dbf067dfb7d7e2850ac4096c7d05/68747470733a2f2f7777772e70617970616c6f626a656374732e636f6d2f656e5f55532f692f62746e2f62746e5f646f6e6174655f534d2e676966)](https://paypal.me/nilportugues) - [Installation](#installation) - [Introduction](#introduction) - [Features](#features) - [Serialization](#serialization) - [Serializers (JSON, XML, YAML)](#serializers-json-xml-yaml) - [Example](#example) - [Custom Serializers](#custom-serializers) - [Data Transformation](#data-transformation) - [Array Transformer](#array-transformer) - [Flat Array Transformer](#flat-array-transformer) - [XML Transformer](#xml-transformer) - [YAML Transformer](#yaml-transformer) - [JSON Transformer](#json-transformer) - [JSend Transformer](#jsend-transformer) - [JSON API Transformer](#json-api-transformer) - [HAL+JSON Transformer](#haljson-transformer) - [Quality](#quality) - [Contribute](#contribute) - [Author](#author) - [License](#license) Installation ------------ [](#installation) Use [Composer](https://getcomposer.org) to install the package: ``` $ composer require nilportugues/serializer ``` Introduction ------------ [](#introduction) **What is serialization?** In the context of data storage, serialization is the process of translating data structures or object state into a format that can be stored (for example, in a file or memory buffer, or transmitted across a network connection link) and reconstructed later in the same or another computer environment. **Why not `serialize()` and `unserialize()`?** These native functions rely on having the serialized classes loaded and available at runtime and tie your unserialization process to a `PHP` platform. If the serialized string contains a reference to a class that cannot be instantiated (e.g. class was renamed, moved namespace, removed or changed to abstract) PHP will immediately die with a fatal error. Is this a problem? Yes it is. Serialized data is now **unusable**. Features -------- [](#features) - Serialize to **JSON**, **XML** and **YAML** formats. - Serializes **exact copies** of the object provided: - **All object properties**, public, protected and private are serialized. - All properties from the current object, and all the inherited properties are read and serialized. - Handles internal class serialization for objects such as SplFixedArray or classes implementing Traversable. - Basic **Data Transformers provided** to convert objects to different output formats. - **Production-ready**. - **Extensible:** easily write your out `Serializer` format or data `Transformers`. Serialization ------------- [](#serialization) For the serializer to work, all you need to do is pass in a PHP Object to the serializer and a Strategy to implement its string representation. ### Serializers (JSON, XML, YAML) [](#serializers-json-xml-yaml) - [NilPortugues\\Serializer\\JsonSerializer](https://github.com/nilportugues/serializer/blob/master/src/JsonSerializer.php) - [NilPortugues\\Serializer\\XmlSerializer](https://github.com/nilportugues/serializer/blob/master/src/XmlSerializer.php) - [NilPortugues\\Serializer\\YamlSerializer](https://github.com/nilportugues/serializer/blob/master/src/YamlSerializer.php) ### Example [](#example) In the following example a `$post` object is serialized into JSON. **Code** ``` use NilPortugues\Serializer\Serializer; use NilPortugues\Serializer\Strategy\JsonStrategy; //Example object $post = new Post( new PostId(9), 'Hello World', 'Your first post', new User( new UserId(1), 'Post Author' ), [ new Comment( new CommentId(1000), 'Have no fear, sers, your king is safe.', new User(new UserId(2), 'Barristan Selmy'), [ 'created_at' => (new DateTime('2015/07/18 12:13:00'))->format('c'), 'accepted_at' => (new DateTime('2015/07/19 00:00:00'))->format('c'), ] ), ] ); //Serialization $serializer = new JsonSerializer(); $serializedObject = $serializer->serialize($post); //Returns: true var_dump($post == $serializer->unserialize($serializedObject)); echo $serializedObject; ``` The object, before it's transformed into an output format, is an array with all the necessary data to be rebuild using unserialize method. **Output** ``` { "@type": "Acme\\\\Domain\\\\Dummy\\\\Post", "postId": { "@type": "Acme\\\\Domain\\\\Dummy\\\\ValueObject\\\\PostId", "postId": { "@scalar": "integer", "@value": 14 } }, "title": { "@scalar": "string", "@value": "Hello World" }, "content": { "@scalar": "string", "@value": "Your first post" }, "author": { "@type": "Acme\\\\Domain\\\\Dummy\\\\User", "userId": { "@type": "Acme\\\\Domain\\\\Dummy\\\\ValueObject\\\\UserId", "userId": { "@scalar": "integer", "@value": 1 } }, "name": { "@scalar": "string", "@value": "Post Author" } }, "comments": { "@map": "array", "@value": [ { "@type": "Acme\\\\Domain\\\\Dummy\\\\Comment", "commentId": { "@type": "Acme\\\\Domain\\\\Dummy\\\\ValueObject\\\\CommentId", "commentId": { "@scalar": "integer", "@value": 1000 } }, "dates": { "@map": "array", "@value": { "created_at": { "@scalar": "string", "@value": "2015-07-18T12:13:00+00:00" }, "accepted_at": { "@scalar": "string", "@value": "2015-07-19T00:00:00+00:00" } } }, "comment": { "@scalar": "string", "@value": "Have no fear, sers, your king is safe." }, "user": { "@type": "Acme\\\\Domain\\\\Dummy\\\\User", "userId": { "@type": "Acme\\\\Domain\\\\Dummy\\\\ValueObject\\\\UserId", "userId": { "@scalar": "integer", "@value": 2 } }, "name": { "@scalar": "string", "@value": "Barristan Selmy" } } } ] } }' ``` ### Custom Serializers [](#custom-serializers) If a custom serialization strategy is preferred, the `Serializer` class should be used instead. A `CustomStrategy` must implement the `StrategyInterface`. Usage is as follows: ``` use NilPortugues\Serializer\Serializer; use NilPortugues\Serializer\Strategy\CustomStrategy; $serializer = new Serializer(new CustomStrategy()); echo $serializer->serialize($post); ``` --- Data Transformation ------------------- [](#data-transformation) Transformer classes **greatly differ** from a `Strategy` class because these cannot `unserialize()` as all class references are lost in the process of transformation. To obtain transformations instead of the `Serializer` class usage of `DeepCopySerializer` is required. The Serializer library comes with a set of defined Transformers that implement the `StrategyInterface`. Usage is as simple as before, pass a Transformer as a `$strategy`. **For instance:** ``` //...same as before ... $serializer = new DeepCopySerializer(new JsonTransformer()); echo $serializer->serialize($post); ``` Following, there are some examples and its output, given the `$post` object as data to be Transformed. ### Array Transformer [](#array-transformer) - [`NilPortugues\Serializer\Transformer\ArrayTransformer`](https://github.com/nilportugues/serializer/blob/master/src/Transformer/ArrayTransformer.php) ``` array( 'postId' => 9, 'title' => 'Hello World', 'content' => 'Your first post', 'author' => array( 'userId' => 1, 'name' => 'Post Author', ), 'comments' => array( 0 => array( 'commentId' => 1000, 'dates' => array( 'created_at' => '2015-07-18T12:13:00+02:00', 'accepted_at' => '2015-07-19T00:00:00+02:00', ), 'comment' => 'Have no fear, sers, your king is safe.', 'user' => array( 'userId' => 2, 'name' => 'Barristan Selmy', ), ), ), ); ``` ### Flat Array Transformer [](#flat-array-transformer) - [`NilPortugues\Serializer\Transformer\FlatArrayTransformer`](https://github.com/nilportugues/serializer/blob/master/src/Transformer/FlatArrayTransformer.php) ``` array( 'postId' => 9, 'title' => 'Hello World', 'content' => 'Your first post', 'author.userId' => 1, 'author.name' => 'Post Author', 'comments.0.commentId' => 1000, 'comments.0.dates.created_at' => '2015-07-18T12:13:00+02:00', 'comments.0.dates.accepted_at' => '2015-07-19T00:00:00+02:00', 'comments.0.comment' => 'Have no fear, sers, your king is safe.', 'comments.0.user.userId' => 2, 'comments.0.user.name' => 'Barristan Selmy', ); ``` ### XML Transformer [](#xml-transformer) - [`NilPortugues\Serializer\Transformer\XmlTransformer`](https://github.com/nilportugues/serializer/blob/master/src/Transformer/XmlTransformer.php) ``` 9 Hello World Your first post 1 Post Author 1000 2015-07-18T12:13:00+02:00 2015-07-19T00:00:00+02:00 Have no fear, sers, your king is safe. 2 Barristan Selmy ``` ### YAML Transformer [](#yaml-transformer) - [`NilPortugues\Serializer\Transformer\YamlTransformer`](https://github.com/nilportugues/serializer/blob/master/src/Transformer/YamlTransformer.php) ``` title: 'Hello World' content: 'Your first post' author: userId: 1 name: 'Post Author' comments: - { commentId: 1000, dates: { created_at: '2015-07-18T12:13:00+02:00', accepted_at: '2015-07-19T00:00:00+02:00' }, comment: 'Have no fear, sers, your king is safe.', user: { userId: 2, name: 'Barristan Selmy' } } ``` ### Json Transformer [](#json-transformer) JsonTransformer comes in 2 flavours. For object to JSON transformation the following transformer should be used: - [`NilPortugues\Serializer\Transformer\JsonTransformer`](https://github.com/nilportugues/serializer/blob/master/src/Transformer/JsonTransformer.php) **Output** ``` { "postId": 9, "title": "Hello World", "content": "Your first post", "author": { "userId": 1, "name": "Post Author" }, "comments": [ { "commentId": 1000, "dates": { "created_at": "2015-07-18T13:34:55+02:00", "accepted_at": "2015-07-18T14:09:55+02:00" }, "comment": "Have no fear, sers, your king is safe.", "user": { "userId": 2, "name": "Barristan Selmy" } } ] } ``` If your desired output is for **API consumption**, you may like to check out the JsonTransformer library, or require it using: ``` $ composer require nilportugues/json ``` ### JSend Transformer [](#jsend-transformer) JSend Transformer has been built to transform data into valid **JSend** specification resources. Please check out the [JSend Transformer](https://github.com/nilportugues/jsend-transformer) or download it using: ``` $ composer require nilportugues/jsend ``` ### JSON API Transformer [](#json-api-transformer) JSON API Transformer has been built to transform data into valid **JSON API** specification resources. Please check out the [JSON API Transformer](https://github.com/nilportugues/jsonapi-transformer) or download it using: ``` $ composer require nilportugues/json-api ``` ### HAL+JSON Transformer [](#haljson-transformer) HAL+JSON Transformer has been built for **HAL+JSON API creation**. Given an object and a series of mappings a valid HAL+JSON resource representation is given as output. Please check out the [HAL+JSON API Transformer](https://github.com/nilportugues/hal-json-transformer) or download it using: ``` $ composer require nilportugues/haljson ``` --- Quality ------- [](#quality) To run the PHPUnit tests at the command line, go to the tests directory and issue `phpunit`. This library attempts to comply with [PSR-2](http://www.php-fig.org/psr/psr-2/) and [PSR-4](http://www.php-fig.org/psr/psr-4/). If you notice compliance oversights, please send a patch via pull request. Contribute ---------- [](#contribute) Contributions to the package are always welcome! - Report any bugs or issues you find on the [issue tracker](https://github.com/nilportugues/serializer/issues/new). - You can grab the source code at the package's [Git repository](https://github.com/nilportugues/serializer). Authors ------- [](#authors) - [Nil Portugués Calderó](http://nilportugues.com) - [The Community Contributors](https://github.com/nilportugues/serializer/graphs/contributors) License ------- [](#license) The code base is licensed under the MIT license. ### Health Score 41 — FairBetter than 89% of packages Maintenance18 Infrequent updates — may be unmaintained Popularity46 Moderate usage in the ecosystem Community20 Small or concentrated contributor base Maturity67 Established project with proven stability Bus Factor1 Top contributor holds 100% of commits — single point of failure How is this calculated?**Maintenance (25%)** — Last commit recency, latest release date, and issue-to-star ratio. Uses a 2-year decay window. **Popularity (30%)** — Total and monthly downloads, GitHub stars, and forks. Logarithmic scaling prevents top-heavy scores. **Community (15%)** — Contributors, dependents, forks, watchers, and maintainers. Measures real ecosystem engagement. **Maturity (30%)** — Project age, version count, PHP version support, and release stability. ### Release Activity Cadence Every ~68 days Recently: every ~226 days Total 17 Last Release 2860d ago Major Versions 0.0.1 → 1.0.0-alpha2015-08-14 PHP version history (2 changes)0.0.1PHP >=5.5.0 1.1.7PHP >=5.6.0 ### Community Maintainers ![](https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/beba5d66ff48128da92c91850e69b9294768718bcdc12e61cc9ee8453d0d6b69?d=identicon)[nilportugues](/maintainers/nilportugues) --- Top Contributors [![nilportugues](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/550948?v=4)](https://github.com/nilportugues "nilportugues (108 commits)") --- Tags apiarray-transformerdata-transformationhalhal-apijsend-transformerjsonjson-apijson-transformationjsonapimarshallerphpphp7serializationtransformerxmlxml-transformationyamlyaml-transformerymljsonserializeserializer ### Code Quality TestsPHPUnit ### Embed Badge ![Health badge](/badges/nilportugues-serializer/health.svg) ``` [![Health](https://phpackages.com/badges/nilportugues-serializer/health.svg)](https://phpackages.com/packages/nilportugues-serializer) ``` ### Alternatives [nathanmac/parser Simple PHP Parser Utility Library for API Development 2151.0M3](/packages/nathanmac-parser)[nilportugues/laravel5-json-api Laravel 5 JSON API Transformer Package 31232.4k1](/packages/nilportugues-laravel5-json-api)[zumba/json-serializer Serialize PHP variables, including objects, in JSON format. 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