(PHP 4, PHP 5)
serialize — Generates a storable representation of a value
Generates a storable representation of a value
This is useful for storing or passing PHP values around without losing their type and structure.
To make the serialized string into a PHP value again, use unserialize().
The value to be serialized. serialize() handles all types, except the resource -type. You can even serialize() arrays that contain references to itself. Circular references inside the array/object you are serializing will also be stored. Any other reference will be lost.
When serializing objects, PHP will attempt to call the member function __sleep prior to serialization. This is to allow the object to do any last minute clean-up, etc. prior to being serialized. Likewise, when the object is restored using unserialize() the __wakeup member function is called.
Note: Object's private members have the class name prepended to the member name; protected members have a '*' prepended to the member name. These prepended values have null bytes on either side.
Returns a string containing a byte-stream representation of value that can be stored anywhere.
Example #1 serialize() example
<?php
// $session_data contains a multi-dimensional array with session
// information for the current user. We use serialize() to store
// it in a database at the end of the request.
$conn = odbc_connect("webdb", "php", "chicken");
$stmt = odbc_prepare($conn,
"UPDATE sessions SET data = ? WHERE id = ?");
$sqldata = array (serialize($session_data), $_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_USER']);
if (!odbc_execute($stmt, $sqldata)) {
$stmt = odbc_prepare($conn,
"INSERT INTO sessions (id, data) VALUES(?, ?)");
if (!odbc_execute($stmt, $sqldata)) {
/* Something went wrong.. */
}
}
?>
| Version | Description |
|---|---|
| 4.0.7 | The object serialization process was fixed. |
Note: It is not possible to serialize PHP built-in objects.