Note that static members of an object are not serialized.
serialize() returns a string containing a byte-stream representation of any value that can be stored in PHP. unserialize() can use this string to recreate the original variable values. Using serialize to save an object will save all variables in an object. The methods in an object will not be saved, only the name of the class.
In order to be able to unserialize() an object, the class of that object needs to be defined. That is, if you have an object of class A and serialize this, you'll get a string that refers to class A and contains all values of variables contained in it. If you want to be able to unserialize this in another file, an object of class A, the definition of class A must be present in that file first. This can be done for example by storing the class definition of class A in an include file and including this file or making use of the spl_autoload_register() function.
<?php
// classa.inc:
class A {
public $one = 1;
public function show_one() {
echo $this->one;
}
}
// page1.php:
include("classa.inc");
$a = new A;
$s = serialize($a);
// store $s somewhere where page2.php can find it.
file_put_contents('store', $s);
// page2.php:
// this is needed for the unserialize to work properly.
include("classa.inc");
$s = file_get_contents('store');
$a = unserialize($s);
// now use the function show_one() of the $a object.
$a->show_one();
?>
If an application is using sessions and uses session_register() to register objects, these objects are serialized automatically at the end of each PHP page, and are unserialized automatically on each of the following pages. This means that these objects can show up on any of the application's pages once they become part of the session. However, the session_register() is removed since PHP 5.4.0.
It is strongly recommended that if an application serializes objects, for use later in the application, that the application includes the class definition for that object throughout the application. Not doing so might result in an object being unserialized without a class definition, which will result in PHP giving the object a class of __PHP_Incomplete_Class_Name, which has no methods and would render the object useless.
So if in the example above $a became part of a session by running session_register("a"), you should include the file classa.inc on all of your pages, not only page1.php and page2.php.
Beyond the above advice, note that you can also hook into the serialization and unserialization events on an object using the __sleep() and __wakeup() methods. Using __sleep() also allows you to only serialize a subset of the object's properties.
Reading this page you'd be left with the impression that a class's `serialize` and `unserialize` methods are unrelated to the `serialize` and `unserialize` core functions; that only `__sleep` and `__unsleep` allow you to customize an object's serialization interface. But look at http://php.net/manual/en/class.serializable.php and you'll see that there is a more straightforward way to control how a user-defined object is serialized and unserialized.
class UnSerializer {
public function __construct($filename_with_path) { /* Input the Filename */
$this->filename = $filename_with_path;
if ($this->filename == true) {
return true;
} else {
echo 'File Name Error';
}
}
public function check_file_validity() {
$this->validity = file_exists($this->filename);
if ($this->validity == true) {
return true;
} else {
echo 'File Not Found !';
}
}
public function getting_file_content() {
if ($this->validity == true) {
$this->content = file_get_contents($this->filename);
if ($this->content == true) {
return true;
} else {
echo 'We Can\'t Reach to the Data';
}
} else {
echo 'File Not Found !';
}
}
public function get_unserial_data() {
$this->check_file_validity();
$this->getting_file_content();
if (!is_null($this->content)) {
$this->unserializedval = unserialize($this->content);
if ($this->unserializedval == true) {
return true;
}
} else {
echo 'We Can\'t Reach to the Data';
}
}
public function get_unserialized_value() {
return $this->unserializedval;
}
}
$object = new UnSerializer('example_directory/filename'); /* Enter file name */
$object->get_unserial_data();
var_dump($object->get_unserialized_value());
It is important to note that you cannot use the following characters in any array that gets serialized or deserializing will fail: single quote, double quote, colon, or semicolon. To get around this, use the base64_encode function after using serialize when you save the data. When you need to unserialize use the base64_decode function first then unserialize.
PHP OBJECT SERIALIZATION
I use a database to store info rather than storing PHP Objects themselves. However, I find that having a PHP Object acting as an interface to my db is way useful. For example, suppose I have a TABLE called 'user' that looks like this.
CREATE TABLE user {
user_id MEDIUMINT UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
user_first VARCHAR(24) NOT NULL,
user_last VARCHAR(24) NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (user_id)
);
Then I would create a PHP Class definition like so:
<?php
require('includes/db_connect.php');
class User
{
protected $user_id;
protected $user_first;
protected $user_last;
public function __construct($id, $first, $last)
{
$this->user_id = $id;
$this->user_first = $first;
$this->user_last = $last;
}
# FUNCTIONS TO RETRIEVE INFO - DESERIALIZE.
public static function db_user_by_id($dbc, $id)
{
$query = "SELECT * FROM user WHERE user_id=$id LIMIT 1";
return User::db_select($dbc, $query);
}
public static function db_user_by_name($dbc, $first, $last)
{
$query = "SELECT * FROM user WHERE user_first='$first' AND user_last='$last' LIMIT 1";
return User::db_select($dbc, $query);
}
protected static function db_select($dbc, $query);
{
$result = mysqli_query($dbc, $query);
if(mysqli_num_rows($result) > 0)
{
$row = mysqli_fetch_array($result, MYSQLI_NUM);
return new User($row[0], $row[1], $row[2]);
}
}
# FUNCTIONS TO SAVE INFO - SERIALIZE.
public function insert($dbc)
{
$query = "INSERT INTO user VALUES (NULL, '$this->user_first', '$this->user_last')";
$result = mysqli_query($dbc, $query);
}
public function update($dbc)
{
$query = "UPDATE user SET user_first='$this->user_first', user_last='$this->user_last' WHERE user_id=$this->id LIMIT 1";
$result = mysqli_query($dbc, $query);
}
# GETTER and SETTER FUNCTIONS - DO NOT ALLOW SETTING OF ID
public function getId() {return $this->user_id;)
public function getFirst() {return $this->user_first;)
public function getLast() {return $this->user_last;)
public function setFirst($first) {$this->user_first = $first;}
public function setLast($last) {$this->user_last = $last;}
# CUSTOM FUNCTIONS
public function getFullName() {return $this->user_first . ' ' . $this->user_last;}
public function getLastFirst() {return $this->user_last . ', ' . $this->user_first;}
}
?>
Using PHP Objects for SERIALIZATION and DESERIALIZATION is now super-easy, for example:
<?php
require('User.php');
// INSERT a new user.
$user = new User(0, 'Frank', 'American');
$user->insert($dbc); // done!
// UPDATE an existing user.
$user = User::db_user_by_id($dbc, 223);
$user->setFirst('Johnny');
$user->update($dbc); // done!
mysqli_close($dbc);
?>