Json Serializer for PHP
, (*1)
This is a library to serialize PHP variables in JSON format. It is similar of the serialize() function in PHP,
but the output is a string JSON encoded. You can also unserialize the JSON generated by this tool and have you
PHP content back., (*2)
Supported features:, (*3)
- Encode/Decode of scalar, null, array
- Encode/Decode of objects
- Encode/Decode of binary data
- Support nested serialization
- Support not declared properties on the original class definition (ie, properties in
stdClass)
- Support object recursion
- Closures (via 3rd party library. See details below)
Unsupported serialization content:, (*4)
- Resource (ie,
fopen() response)
- NAN, INF constants
Limitations:, (*5)
- Binary data containing null bytes (\u0000) as array keys cannot be properly decoded because of a json extension bug:
- https://github.com/remicollet/pecl-json-c/issues/7
- https://github.com/json-c/json-c/issues/108
This project should not be confused with JsonSerializable interface added on PHP 5.4. This interface is used on
json_encode to encode the objects. There is no unserialization with this interface, differently from this project., (*6)
Json Serializer requires PHP >= 7.0 and tested until PHP 8.2, (*7)
Example
class MyCustomClass {
public $isItAwesome = true;
protected $nice = 'very!';
}
$instance = new MyCustomClass();
$serializer = new Zumba\JsonSerializer\JsonSerializer();
$json = $serializer->serialize($instance);
// $json will contain the content {"@type":"MyCustomClass","isItAwesome":true,"nice":"very!"}
$restoredInstance = $serializer->unserialize($json);
// $restoredInstance will be an instance of MyCustomClass
How to Install
If you are using composer, install the package zumba/json-serializer., (*8)
$ composer require zumba/json-serializer
Or add the zumba/json-serializer directly in your composer.json file., (*9)
If you are not using composer, you can just copy the files from src folder in your project., (*10)
Serializing Binary Strings
Binary strings introduce two special identifiers in the final json: @utf8encoded and @scalar.
@utf8encoded is an array of keys from the original data which have their value (or the keys themselves)
encoded from 8bit to UTF-8. This is how the serializer knows what to encode back from UTF-8 to 8bit when deserializing.
Example:, (*11)
$data = ['key' => '<binaryvalue>', 'anotherkey' => 'nonbinaryvalue'];
$serializer = new Zumba\JsonSerializer\JsonSerializer();
$json = $serializer->serialize($data);
// $json will contain the content {"key":"<utf8encodedbinaryvalue>","anotherkey":"nonbinaryvalue","@utf8encoded":{"key":1}}
@scalar is used only when the value to be encoded is not an array or an object but a binary string. Example:, (*12)
$data = '<binaryvalue>';
$serializer = new Zumba\JsonSerializer\JsonSerializer();
$json = $serializer->serialize($data);
// $json will contain the content {"@scalar":"<utf8encodedbinaryvalue>","@utf8encoded":1}
Serializing Closure
For serializing PHP closures you can either use OpisClosure (preferred) or
SuperClosure (the project is abandoned, so kept here for backward
compatibility)., (*13)
Closure serialization has some limitations. Please check the OpisClosure or SuperClosure project to check if it fits
your needs., (*14)
To use the OpisClosure with JsonSerializer, just add it to the closure serializer list. Example:, (*15)
$toBeSerialized = [
'data' => [1, 2, 3],
'worker' => function ($data) {
$double = [];
foreach ($data as $i => $number) {
$double[$i] = $number * 2;
}
return $double;
}
];
$jsonSerializer = new \Zumba\JsonSerializer\JsonSerializer();
$jsonSerializer->addClosureSerializer(new \Zumba\JsonSerializer\ClosureSerializer\OpisClosureSerializer());
$serialized = $jsonSerializer->serialize($toBeSerialized);
You can load multiple closure serializers in case you are migrating from SuperClosure to OpisClosure for example., (*16)
PS: JsonSerializer does not have a hard dependency of OpisClosure or SuperClosure. If you want to use both projects
make sure you add both on your composer requirements and load them with addClosureSerializer() method., (*17)
Custom Serializers
Some classes may not be suited to be serialized and unserialized using the default reflection methods., (*18)
Custom serializers provide the ability to define serialize and unserialize methods for specific classes., (*19)
class MyType {
public $field1;
public $field2;
}
class MyTypeSerializer {
public function serialize(MyType $obj) {
return array('fields' => $obj->field1 . ' ' . $obj->field2);
}
public function unserialize($values) {
list($field1, $field2) = explode(' ', $values['fields']);
$obj = new MyType();
$obj->field1 = $field1;
$obj->field2 = $field2;
return $obj;
}
}
// map of "class name" => Custom serializer
$customObjectSerializers['MyType'] = new MyTypeSerializer();
$jsonSerializer = new Zumba\JsonSerializer\JsonSerializer(null, $customObjectSerializers);
$toBeSerialized = new MyType();
$toBeSerialized->field1 = 'x';
$toBeSerialized->field2 = 'y';
$json = $jsonSerializer->serialize($toBeSerialized);
// $json == {"@type":"Zumba\\\\JsonSerializer\\\\Test\\\\SupportClasses\\\\MyType","fields":"x y"}
$myType = $jsonSerializer->unserialize($json);
// $myType == $toBeSerialized
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