» Javascript equivalent for PHP's serialize

399 PHP equivalents

PHP to Javascript Project: php.js

php.jsThis article is part of the 'Porting PHP to Javascript' Project, which aims to decrease the gap between developing for PHP & Javascript.

A lot of people are familiar with PHP's functions, and though Javascript functions are often quite similar, some functions may be missing or addressed differently. The Javascript implementations should be as compliant with the PHP versions as possible, a good indication is that the PHP function manual could also apply to the Javascript version.

Porting crucial PHP functions to Javascript can be fun & useful. Currently some PHP functions have been added, but readers are encouraged to contribute and improve functions by adding comments. Eventually the goal is to save all the functions in one php.js file and make it publicly available for your coding pleasure.

If you choose to contribute, let me know how you want to be credited in the function's comments. You may also want to subscribe to RSS so you receive updates whenever new functions are posted.

This is a Javascript version of the PHP function: serialize.

I have moved out PHP.JS to it's own site. For info & reactions on comments please goto phpjs.org

PHP serialize

Description

serialize - Generates a storable representation of a value

string serialize ( mixed value)

Generates a storable representation of a value

Parameters

  • value

    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 serialize()ing 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.

Return Values

Returns a string containing a byte-stream representation of value that can be stored anywhere.

See Also

Javascript serialize

Source

This is the main source of the Javascript version of PHP's serialize

function serialize( mixed_value ) {
    // http://kevin.vanzonneveld.net
    // +   original by: Arpad Ray (mailto:arpad@php.net)
    // +   improved by: Dino
    // +   bugfixed by: Andrej Pavlovic
    // +   bugfixed by: Garagoth
    // +      input by: DtTvB (http://dt.in.th/2008-09-16.string-length-in-bytes.html)
    // +   bugfixed by: Russell Walker
    // %          note: We feel the main purpose of this function should be to ease the transport of data between php & js
    // %          note: Aiming for PHP-compatibility, we have to translate objects to arrays
    // *     example 1: serialize(['Kevin', 'van', 'Zonneveld']);
    // *     returns 1: 'a:3:{i:0;s:5:"Kevin";i:1;s:3:"van";i:2;s:9:"Zonneveld";}'
    // *     example 2: serialize({firstName: 'Kevin', midName: 'van', surName: 'Zonneveld'});
    // *     returns 2: 'a:3:{s:9:"firstName";s:5:"Kevin";s:7:"midName";s:3:"van";s:7:"surName";s:9:"Zonneveld";}'
 
    var _getType = function( inp ) {
        var type = typeof inp, match;
        var key;
        if (type == 'object' && !inp) {
            return 'null';
        }
        if (type == "object") {
            if (!inp.constructor) {
                return 'object';
            }
            var cons = inp.constructor.toString();
            match = cons.match(/(\w+)\(/);
            if (match) {
                cons = match[1].toLowerCase();
            }
            var types = ["boolean", "number", "string", "array"];
            for (key in types) {
                if (cons == types[key]) {
                    type = types[key];
                    break;
                }
            }
        }
        return type;
    };
    var type = _getType(mixed_value);
    var val, ktype = '';
    
    switch (type) {
        case "function": 
            val = ""; 
            break;
        case "undefined":
            val = "N";
            break;
        case "boolean":
            val = "b:" + (mixed_value ? "1" : "0");
            break;
        case "number":
            val = (Math.round(mixed_value) == mixed_value ? "i" : "d") + ":" + mixed_value;
            break;
        case "string":
            val = "s:" + encodeURIComponent(mixed_value).replace(/%../g, 'x').length + ":\"" + mixed_value + "\"";
            break;
        case "array":
        case "object":
            val = "a";
            /*
            if (type == "object") {
                var objname = mixed_value.constructor.toString().match(/(\w+)\(\)/);
                if (objname == undefined) {
                    return;
                }
                objname[1] = serialize(objname[1]);
                val = "O" + objname[1].substring(1, objname[1].length - 1);
            }
            */
            var count = 0;
            var vals = "";
            var okey;
            var key;
            for (key in mixed_value) {
                ktype = _getType(mixed_value[key]);
                if (ktype == "function") { 
                    continue; 
                }
                
                okey = (key.match(/^[0-9]+$/) ? parseInt(key, 10) : key);
                vals += serialize(okey) +
                        serialize(mixed_value[key]);
                count++;
            }
            val += ":" + count + ":{" + vals + "}";
            break;
    }
    if (type != "object" && type != "array") {
        val += ";";
    }
    return val;
}

Examples

Currently there are 2 examples

Example 1

This is how you could call serialize()
serialize(['Kevin', 'van', 'Zonneveld']);
And that would return
'a:3:{i:0;s:5:"Kevin";i:1;s:3:"van";i:2;s:9:"Zonneveld";}'

Example 2

This is how you could call serialize()
serialize({firstName: 'Kevin', midName: 'van', surName: 'Zonneveld'});
And that would return
'a:3:{s:9:"firstName";s:5:"Kevin";s:7:"midName";s:3:"van";s:7:"surName";s:9:"Zonneveld";}'

More about this Project

Download php.js

To easily include it in your code, every function currently available is stored in

Normal

Namespaced What is 'namespaced?'

To download use Right click, Save Link As
Generally the best way is to use a minified version and gzip it


Credits

Respect & awards go to everybody who has contributed in some way so far:

medalmedalBrett Zamir (link) for contributing to:
 array_diff, array_diff_assoc, array_diff_key, array_diff_uassoc, array_diff_ukey, array_fill_keys, array_fill_keys, array_filter, array_intersect, array_intersect_assoc, array_intersect_key, array_intersect_uassoc, array_intersect_ukey, array_keys, array_map, array_merge, array_merge_recursive, array_pop, array_search, array_slice, array_slice, array_splice, array_udiff, array_udiff_assoc, array_udiff_uassoc, array_uintersect, array_uintersect_assoc, array_uintersect_uassoc, array_unique, arsort, arsort, asort, asort, compact, current, each, end, extract, key, krsort, ksort, natcasesort, natcasesort, natsort, natsort, next, pos, prev, reset, rsort, rsort, shuffle, sort, sort, uasort, uasort, uksort, usort, classkit_import, classkit_method_add, classkit_method_copy, classkit_method_redefine, classkit_method_remove, classkit_method_rename, class_exists, get_class_methods, get_class_vars, get_declared_classes, get_object_vars, method_exists, property_exists, ctype_alnum, ctype_alpha, ctype_cntrl, ctype_digit, ctype_graph, ctype_lower, ctype_print, ctype_punct, ctype_space, ctype_upper, ctype_xdigit, date, date, date, date, date_default_timezone_get, date_default_timezone_set, date_parse, gettimeofday, gmdate, gmmktime, gmstrftime, idate, localtime, mktime, strftime, strtotime, timezone_abbreviations_list, timezone_identifiers_list, restore_exception_handler, set_exception_handler, fclose, feof, fgetc, fgetcsv, fgets, fgetss, filemtime, fopen, fpassthru, fread, fseek, ftell, pathinfo, pclose, popen, readfile, rewind, call_user_func, call_user_func_array, create_function, func_get_arg, func_get_args, func_num_args, get_defined_functions, get_defined_functions, register_shutdown_function, assert, assert_options, get_cfg_var, get_defined_constants, get_required_files, getenv, getlastmod, ini_alter, ini_get, ini_get_all, ini_restore, ini_set, php_ini_loaded_file, php_ini_scanned_files, phpversion, putenv, set_time_limit, include, include_once, require, require_once, atan2, expm1, fmod, log1p, rand, constant, define, defined, die, exit, exit, php_strip_whitespace, sleep, time_nanosleep, time_sleep_until, usleep, gopher_parsedir, setrawcookie, aggregate, aggregate_info, aggregate_methods, aggregate_methods_by_list, aggregate_methods_by_regexp, aggregate_properties, aggregate_properties_by_list, aggregate_properties_by_regexp, aggregation_info, deaggregate, preg_grep, sql_regcase, runkit_class_adopt, runkit_class_emancipate, runkit_function_add, runkit_function_copy, runkit_function_redefine, runkit_function_remove, runkit_function_rename, runkit_import, runkit_method_add, runkit_method_copy, runkit_method_redefine, runkit_method_remove, runkit_method_rename, runkit_superglobals, chunk_split, convert_uuencode, count_chars, echo, get_html_translation_table, lcfirst, levenshtein, localeconv, md5, md5_file, nl2br, nl_langinfo, parse_str, printf, quoted_printable_decode, quoted_printable_decode, quoted_printable_encode, setlocale, sha1, soundex, sprintf, str_getcsv, str_ireplace, str_replace, str_replace, str_shuffle, str_split, str_word_count, strcoll, strcspn, strip_tags, strlen, strnatcasecmp, strncmp, strrchr, strspn, strtok, strtr, substr_compare, substr_replace, ucfirst, vprintf, base64_decode, get_headers, get_meta_tags, parse_url, rawurldecode, rawurldecode, rawurlencode, rawurlencode, rawurlencode, urldecode, urldecode, urlencode, urlencode, doubleval, get_defined_vars, get_resource_type, gettype, import_request_variables, import_request_variables, is_array, is_array, is_binary, is_buffer, is_callable, is_real, is_resource, is_unicode, print_r, print_r, settype, strval, strval, unserialize, var_dump, var_export, utf8_decode
spacemedalOnno Marsman for contributing to:
 acos, acosh, asin, asinh, atan, atanh, ceil, cos, cosh, decbin, dechex, decoct, exp, floor, fmod, getrandmax, hypot, is_finite, is_infinite, is_nan, lcg_value, log, log10, max, max, min, min, mt_getrandmax, mt_rand, pi, pow, rand, round, sin, sinh, sqrt, tan, tanh, setcookie, preg_quote, addslashes, bin2hex, count_chars, html_entity_decode, htmlentities, htmlspecialchars_decode, levenshtein, ltrim, nl2br, nl2br, ord, parse_str, rtrim, soundex, str_ireplace, str_replace, str_replace, str_rot13, str_split, strcasecmp, strip_tags, stripos, stripslashes, stristr, strlen, strnatcmp, strncasecmp, strpbrk, strpos, strrev, strripos, strrpos, strstr, strtolower, strtoupper, substr, substr_count, trim, ucfirst, ucwords, base64_decode, empty, empty, is_array, is_bool, isset, utf8_decode, utf8_encode, utf8_encode
spacemedalMichael White (link) for contributing to:
 array_count_values, get_included_files, include, include_once, require, require_once, md5, number_format, parse_str, printf, sha1, sprintf, str_pad, strnatcmp, vprintf, http_build_query, floatval, is_object, print_r
spacemedalWaldo Malqui Silva for contributing to:
 array_fill, array_pad, array_product, array_rand, compact, count, range, abs, defined, ip2long, long2ip, implode, strcmp, strncmp, ucwords, settype
spacemedalPaulo Ricardo F. Santos for contributing to:
 getdate, microtime, constant, define, chop, chunk_split, quotemeta, sprintf, get_headers, gettype, is_double, is_float, is_integer, is_long, is_scalar
spacemedalJack for contributing to:
 compact, max, min, count_chars, htmlentities, md5, parse_str, soundex, sprintf, str_ireplace, strnatcmp, trim, utf8_encode
spacemedalJonas Raoni Soares Silva (link) for contributing to:
 shuffle, abs, setcookie, number_format, number_format, soundex, str_repeat, str_replace, str_rot13, ucwords, wordwrap, wordwrap
spacemedalPhilip Peterson for contributing to:
 sizeof, log10, round, exit, echo, get_html_translation_table, nl2br, str_replace, strchr, urldecode, urlencode, var_export
spacemedalAtes Goral (link) for contributing to:
 array_change_key_case, array_count_values, array_diff_key, each, get_class, preg_quote, addslashes, count_chars, str_rot13, stripslashes
spacemedalLegaev Andrey for contributing to:
 end, reset, file, file_get_contents, function_exists, include, include_once, http_build_query, is_array, is_object
spacemedalMartijn Wieringa for contributing to:
 array_shift, array_unshift, str_ireplace, str_split, strcasecmp, stripos, strnatcmp, substr
spacemedalNate for contributing to:
 array_merge, array_sum, array_unique, pathinfo, addslashes, echo, strncasecmp
spacemedalEnrique Gonzalez for contributing to:
 file_exists, filesize, decbin, decoct, deg2rad, rad2deg
spacemedalPhilippe Baumann for contributing to:
 base_convert, bindec, dechex, hexdec, octdec, empty
spacemedalTheriault for contributing to:
 array_multisort, quoted_printable_decode, quoted_printable_decode, quoted_printable_encode, quoted_printable_encode
spacemedalWebtoolkit.info (link) for contributing to:
 crc32, md5, sha1, utf8_decode, utf8_encode
 
spacemedalAsh Searle (link) for contributing to:
 basename, printf, sprintf, vprintf
spacemedalCarlos R. L. Rodrigues (link) for contributing to:
 array_chunk, array_unique, date, levenshtein
spacemedalJani Hartikainen for contributing to:
 file, file_exists, file_get_contents, filesize
spacemedalOle Vrijenhoek for contributing to:
 convert_uuencode, convert_uuencode, quoted_printable_decode, str_word_count
spacemedaltravc for contributing to:
 rawurldecode, rawurlencode, urldecode, urlencode
spacemedalAlex for contributing to:
 get_html_translation_table, strip_tags, is_int
spacemedalAndrea Giammarchi (link) for contributing to:
 array_map, define, levenshtein
spacemedalErkekjetter for contributing to:
 ltrim, rtrim, trim
spacemedalGeekFG (link) for contributing to:
 krsort, ksort, time
spacemedalJohnny Mast (link) for contributing to:
 array_walk, array_walk_recursive, create_function
spacemedalMichael Grier for contributing to:
 array_unique, wordwrap, rawurlencode
spacemedald3x for contributing to:
 array, explode, unserialize
spacemedalmarrtins for contributing to:
 array_change_key_case, addslashes, stripslashes
spacemedalstag019 for contributing to:
 parse_str, parse_str, http_build_query
spacemedalAJ for contributing to:
 urldecode, urlencode
spacemedalAlfonso Jimenez (link) for contributing to:
 array_reduce, strpbrk
spacemedalAman Gupta for contributing to:
 base64_decode, utf8_decode
spacemedalArpad Ray (mailto:arpad@php.net) for contributing to:
 serialize, unserialize
spacemedalBreaking Par Consulting Inc (link) for contributing to:
 gettimeofday, localtime
spacemedalCaio Ariede (link) for contributing to:
 strtotime, strtotime
spacemedalDavid for contributing to:
 strtotime, is_numeric
spacemedalJosh Fraser (link) for contributing to:
 gettimeofday, localtime
spacemedalKELAN for contributing to:
 get_html_translation_table, gettype
spacemedalKarol Kowalski for contributing to:
 array_reverse, abs
spacemedalLars Fischer for contributing to:
 urldecode, urlencode
spacemedalMarc Palau for contributing to:
 mktime, strip_tags
spacemedalMirek Slugen for contributing to:
 htmlspecialchars, htmlspecialchars_decode
spacemedalOleg Eremeev for contributing to:
 str_replace, str_replace
spacemedalPellentesque Malesuada for contributing to:
 base64_decode, base64_encode
spacemedalPublic Domain (link) for contributing to:
 json_decode, json_encode
spacemedalSakimori for contributing to:
 strlen, wordwrap
spacemedalSteve Hilder for contributing to:
 strcmp, strncmp
spacemedalSteven Levithan (link) for contributing to:
 trim, parse_url
spacemedalThunder.m for contributing to:
 base64_decode, base64_encode
spacemedalTyler Akins (link) for contributing to:
 base64_decode, base64_encode
spacemedalgettimeofday for contributing to:
 date, idate
spacemedalgorthaur for contributing to:
 strcmp, strncmp
spacemedalmdsjack (link) for contributing to:
 include, trim
spacemedal0m3r for contributing to:
 array_diff_assoc
spacemedalAlexander Ermolaev (link) for contributing to:
 trim
spacemedalAllan Jensen (link) for contributing to:
 number_format
spacemedalAndreas for contributing to:
 setcookie
spacemedalAndrej Pavlovic for contributing to:
 serialize
spacemedalAnton Ongson for contributing to:
 str_replace
spacemedalArno for contributing to:
 htmlspecialchars
spacemedalAtli Þór for contributing to:
 nl2br
spacemedalBayron Guevara for contributing to:
 base64_encode
spacemedalBen Bryan for contributing to:
 print_r
spacemedalBenjamin Lupton for contributing to:
 number_format
spacemedalBlues (link) for contributing to:
 strftime
spacemedalBlues at link for contributing to:
 setlocale
spacemedalBobby Drake for contributing to:
 strip_tags
spacemedalBrad Touesnard for contributing to:
 date
spacemedalBryan Elliott for contributing to:
 date
spacemedalCagri Ekin for contributing to:
 parse_str
spacemedalChaosNo1 for contributing to:
 timezone_abbreviations_list
spacemedalChristian Doebler for contributing to:
 sleep
spacemedalCord for contributing to:
 is_array
spacemedalDaniel Esteban for contributing to:
 strpos
spacemedalDavid James for contributing to:
 get_class
spacemedalDavid Randall for contributing to:
 date
spacemedalDer Simon (link) for contributing to:
 echo
spacemedalDino for contributing to:
 serialize
spacemedalDiogo Resende for contributing to:
 number_format
spacemedalDouglas Crockford (link) for contributing to:
 gettype
spacemedalDxGx for contributing to:
 trim
spacemedalEric Nagel for contributing to:
 strip_tags
spacemedalEugene Bulkin (link) for contributing to:
 echo
spacemedalFGFEmperor for contributing to:
 mktime
spacemedalFelix Geisendoerfer (link) for contributing to:
 array_key_exists
spacemedalFrancesco for contributing to:
 empty
spacemedalFrancois for contributing to:
 htmlspecialchars_decode
spacemedalFremyCompany for contributing to:
 isset
spacemedalGabriel Paderni for contributing to:
 str_replace
spacemedalGaragoth for contributing to:
 serialize
spacemedalGilbert for contributing to:
 array_sum
spacemedalHoward Yeend for contributing to:
 number_format
spacemedalHyam Singer (link) for contributing to:
 exit
spacemedalJ A R for contributing to:
 end
spacemedalJalal Berrami for contributing to:
 import_request_variables
spacemedalKirk Strobeck for contributing to:
 strlen
spacemedalKristof Coomans (SCK-CEN (Belgian Nucleair Research Centre)) for contributing to:
 strnatcasecmp
spacemedalLH for contributing to:
 empty
spacemedalLeslie Hoare for contributing to:
 rand
spacemedalLincoln Ramsay for contributing to:
 basename
spacemedalLinuxworld for contributing to:
 bin2hex
spacemedalLuke Godfrey for contributing to:
 strip_tags
spacemedalLuke Smith (link) for contributing to:
 number_format
spacemedalManish for contributing to:
 is_array
spacemedalMarc Jansen for contributing to:
 empty
spacemedalMarco for contributing to:
 get_html_translation_table
spacemedalMartin Pool for contributing to:
 strnatcasecmp
spacemedalMateusz "loonquawl" Zalega for contributing to:
 htmlspecialchars_decode
spacemedalMatt Bradley for contributing to:
 is_int
spacemedalMeEtc (link) for contributing to:
 date
spacemedalMick@el for contributing to:
 stripslashes
spacemedalNathan for contributing to:
 htmlspecialchars
spacemedalNick Callen for contributing to:
 wordwrap
spacemedalNorman "zEh" Fuchs for contributing to:
 utf8_decode
spacemedalOle Vrijenhoek (link) for contributing to:
 filemtime
spacemedalOzh for contributing to:
 dirname
spacemedalPaul for contributing to:
 exit
spacemedalPedro Tainha (link) for contributing to:
 unserialize
spacemedalPeter-Paul Koch (link) for contributing to:
 date
spacemedalPierre-Luc Paour for contributing to:
 strnatcasecmp
spacemedalPul for contributing to:
 strip_tags
spacemedalPyerre for contributing to:
 checkdate
spacemedalReverseSyntax for contributing to:
 htmlspecialchars_decode
spacemedalRival for contributing to:
 number_format
spacemedalRobin for contributing to:
 is_nan
spacemedalSanjoy Roy for contributing to:
 array_diff
spacemedalSaulo Vallory for contributing to:
 strncasecmp
spacemedalScott Cariss for contributing to:
 htmlspecialchars_decode
spacemedalSimon Willison (link) for contributing to:
 str_replace
spacemedalSlawomir Kaniecki for contributing to:
 htmlspecialchars_decode
spacemedalSoren Hansen for contributing to:
 count
spacemedalSteve Clay for contributing to:
 function_exists
spacemedalSubhasis Deb for contributing to:
 array_merge_recursive
spacemedalT. Wild for contributing to:
 filesize
spacemedalT.Wild for contributing to:
 substr
spacemedalT0bsn for contributing to:
 crc32
spacemedalThiago Mata (link) for contributing to:
 call_user_func_array
spacemedalTim Wiel for contributing to:
 date
spacemedalTim de Koning for contributing to:
 is_numeric
spacemedalTod Gentille for contributing to:
 log10
spacemedalValentina De Rosa for contributing to:
 strspn
spacemedalVictor for contributing to:
 ip2long
spacemedalWagner B. Soares for contributing to:
 strtotime
spacemedalXoraX (link) for contributing to:
 dirname
spacemedalYUI Library: link for contributing to:
 setlocale
spacemedalYannoo for contributing to:
 mktime
spacemedalYves Sucaet for contributing to:
 utf8_encode
spacemedalbaris ozdil for contributing to:
 mktime
spacemedalbooeyOH for contributing to:
 preg_quote
spacemedalclass_exists for contributing to:
 get_declared_classes
spacemedaldate for contributing to:
 idate
spacemedaldjmix for contributing to:
 basename
spacemedaldptr1988 for contributing to:
 unserialize
spacemedalduncan for contributing to:
 array_unique
spacemedalecho is bad for contributing to:
 echo
spacemedalejsanders for contributing to:
 vsprintf
spacemedalgabriel paderni for contributing to:
 mktime
spacemedalger for contributing to:
 html_entity_decode
spacemedalhitwork for contributing to:
 utf8_decode
spacemedaljakes for contributing to:
 mktime
spacemedaljohn (link) for contributing to:
 html_entity_decode
spacemedaljohnrembo for contributing to:
 var_export
spacemedalkenneth for contributing to:
 explode
spacemedalmadipta for contributing to:
 get_html_translation_table
spacemedalmarc andreu for contributing to:
 html_entity_decode
spacemedalmetjay for contributing to:
 time
spacemedalmk.keck for contributing to:
 realpath
spacemedalmktime for contributing to:
 gmmktime
spacemedalnobbler for contributing to:
 htmlentities
spacemedalnoname for contributing to:
 get_html_translation_table
spacemedalpenutbutterjelly for contributing to:
 str_ireplace
spacemedalrezna for contributing to:
 stripslashes
spacemedalsankai for contributing to:
 array_count_values
spacemedalsetcookie for contributing to:
 setrawcookie
spacemedalsowberry for contributing to:
 utf8_encode
spacemedalstensi for contributing to:
 intval
spacemedalstrcasecmp, strcmp for contributing to:
 substr_compare
spacemedaltaith for contributing to:
 is_numeric
spacemedaluestla for contributing to:
 strtr

Your name here?

Contributing is as easy as adding a comment with better code, or code for a new function.
Any contribution leading to improvement will directly get your name & link here.


Coming Project features

Project features that we are currently working on:

  • Done - Site. A place for php.js of it's own. See: phpjs.org.
  • Done - Compile. Compile your own php.js version, with only the functions you need. Should generate a hash with which you can retrieve latest versions of your php.js combination.
  • Done - Testsuite. A better test-suite that can be ran locally so developers can easily test before commiting. Also the testing itself should be more thorough.
  • Done - Versioning. Individual functions are versioned, but the entire library should be versioned as well.

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tags: programming, php, javascript
category: Programming - Javascript - PHP equivalents
read: 21,922 times

Add Comment

PHP.JS is outgroing this blog and moving to it's own space. Please leave your comment here: http://phpjs.org/functions/serialize

Comments

#29. Kevin on 16 March 2009

Member avatar: Kevin@ Thomas: I will review your comment soon over at http://phpjs.org . Please bear with me, and use that new site for comments on PHP.JS from now on.

Thanks a lot!!

#28. Thomas on 08 March 2009

Gravatar.com: ThomasWorks fine with php 5.2.0.
But doesn't work with php 5.2.6 ! Php cannot unserialize the string.

Any known issues about this ?

#27. Kevin on 30 December 2008

Member avatar: Kevin@ Garagoth: Well noticed. That doesn't make any sense at all.

#26. Garagoth on 18 December 2008

Gravatar.com: GaragothHm, an interesting line of code, not sure how it is supposed to work:

if (ktype == "function" && ktype == "object") {
continue;
}


Cheers,
Garagoth.

#25. Kevin on 01 December 2008

Member avatar: Kevin@ Andrej Pavlovic: Thanks man!

#24. Andrej Pavlovic on 27 November 2008

Gravatar.com: Andrej PavlovicCode above has a major scoping bug. The global "key" variable is used in two parts of the function and as a result nested arrays do not serialize properly.

To fix the bug add "var key;" before both for loops.

Otherwise thanks for the function.

#23. Kevin on 21 September 2008

Member avatar: Kevin@ Dino: I've committed your changes! Thank you.

#22. Dino on 19 September 2008

Gravatar.com: DinoI also forgot this line of code too.

case "function": val = ""; break;

#21. dino on 19 September 2008

Gravatar.com: dinowoops I don't think my code showed up properly.

for (key in mixed_value) {
var ktype = _getType(mixed_value[key]);

//alert(key + ' type is ' + ktype);
if (ktype != "function" && ktype != "object") {
okey = (key.match(/^[0-9]+$/) ? parseInt(key) : key);
vals += serialize(okey) +
serialize(mixed_value[key]);
count++;
}
}

#20. dino on 19 September 2008

Gravatar.com: dinoserialize doesn't work well with mootools since mootools adds or extends the array object with functions which serialize picks up on and tries to translate into a string.

At least it broke my code when I included mootools.

I fixed it by having serialize not try to translate objects or functions. It doesn't seem like functions are being handled anyway.



[CODE="javascript"]
case "function":
val = "";
break;

for (key in mixed_value) {
var ktype = _getType(mixed_value[key]);

//alert(key + ' type is ' + ktype);
if (ktype != "function" && ktype != "object") {
okey = (key.match(/^[0-9]+$/) ? parseInt(key) : key);
vals += serialize(okey) +
serialize(mixed_value[key]);
count++;
}
}

#19. Ren on 09 September 2008

Gravatar.com: RenSorry plz, it was my fault.
I used htmlspecialchars($_REQUEST), so the variable with serialized string encoded too.
Function works fine :) thx

#18. Kevin on 09 September 2008

Member avatar: Kevin@ Ren: Can you please provide a print_r of the array in CODE blocks that you are trying to serialize? We need your import to improve this function. Thanks!

#17. Ren on 09 September 2008

Gravatar.com: RenThis function does not work properly !!! PHP can't unserialize it...

#16. d3x on 31 May 2008

Default avatar:d3x@ Kevin: Arpad Ray's implementation uses "eval" and "eval is evil"(http://blogs.msdn.com/ericlippert/archive/2003/11/01/53329.aspx)

#15. Kevin on 31 May 2008

Member avatar: Kevin@ d3x: Do you think that this function beats Arpad Ray's implementation?

#14. d3x on 30 May 2008

Default avatar:d3xFor every other person that needs an unserialize implementation:

function unserialize(data){
function error(type, msg, filename, line){throw new window[type](msg, filename, line);}
function read_until(data, offset, stopchar){
var buf = [];
var char = data.slice(offset, offset + 1);
var i = 2;
while(char != stopchar){
if((i+offset) > data.length){
error('Error', 'Invalid');
}
buf.push(char);
char = data.slice(offset + (i - 1),offset + i);
i += 1;
}
return [buf.length, buf.join('')];
};
function read_chars(data, offset, length){
buf = [];
for(var i = 0;i < length;i++){
var char = data.slice(offset + (i - 1),offset + i);
buf.push(char);
}
return [buf.length, buf.join('')];
};
function _unserialize(data, offset){
if(!offset) offset = 0;
var buf = [];
var dtype = (data.slice(offset, offset + 1)).toLowerCase();

var dataoffset = offset + 2;
var typeconvert = new Function('x', 'return x');
var chars = 0;
var datalength = 0;

switch(dtype){
case "i":
typeconvert = new Function('x', 'return parseInt(x)');
var readData = read_until(data, dataoffset, ';');
var chars = readData[0];
var readdata = readData[1];
dataoffset += chars + 1;
break;
case "b":
typeconvert = new Function('x', 'return (parseInt(x) == 1)');
var readData = read_until(data, dataoffset, ';');
var chars = readData[0];
var readdata = readData[1];
dataoffset += chars + 1;
break;
case "d":
typeconvert = new Function('x', 'return parseFloat(x)');
var readData = read_until(data, dataoffset, ';');
var chars = readData[0];
var readdata = readData[1];
dataoffset += chars + 1;
break;
case "n":
readdata = null;
break;
case "s":
var ccount = read_until(data, dataoffset, ':');
var chars = ccount[0];
var stringlength = ccount[1];
dataoffset += chars + 2;

var readData = read_chars(data, dataoffset+1, parseInt(stringlength));
var chars = readData[0];
var readdata = readData[1];
dataoffset += chars + 2;
if(chars != parseInt(stringlength) && chars != readdata.length){
error('SyntaxError', 'String length mismatch');
}
break;
case "a":
var readdata = {};

var keyandchars = read_until(data, dataoffset, ':');
var chars = keyandchars[0];
var keys = keyandchars[1];
dataoffset += chars + 2;

for(var i = 0;i < parseInt(keys);i++){
var kprops = _unserialize(data, dataoffset);
var kchars = kprops[1];
var key = kprops[2];
dataoffset += kchars;

var vprops = _unserialize(data, dataoffset);
var vchars = vprops[1];
var value = vprops[2];
dataoffset += vchars;

readdata[key] = value;
}

dataoffset += 1;
break;
default:
error('SyntaxError', 'Unknown / Unhandled data type(s): ' + dtype);
break;
}
return [dtype, dataoffset - offset, typeconvert(readdata)];
};
return _unserialize(data, 0)[2];
}


Code translated from: http://hurring.com/scott/code/python/serialize/

#13. Kevin on 02 March 2008

Member avatar: Kevin@ Andrea Giammarchi: Impressive code Andrea! I will look into this and if I use (parts of) it, I will credit you accordingly! Thanks

#12. Andrea Giammarchi on 02 March 2008

Default avatar:Andrea Giammarchitwo years ago, 15.000 users, about zero problems:
http://www.devpro.it/javascript_id_102.html

It's able to save correctly UTF-8 strings as well.

... [more] Cheers

#11. Kevin on 02 March 2008

Member avatar: Kevin@ Doug: About unserialize, just now I found a very good javascript unserialize function by Arpad Ray. I've included the function in this project. If Arpad doesn't approve however (I've sent him an email), we will still have to write it ourselves.

#10. Kevin on 28 February 2008

Member avatar: Kevin@ Doug: Not yet, so feel free!

#9. Doug on 28 February 2008

Default avatar:DougHave you started to compile a function for unserialize yet?

#8. Franck Chionna on 20 February 2008

Default avatar:Franck Chionnahello,

i d like to serialize a window object by a js var that contain window.open , thus to keep in memory the window open if the php page is refreshed. i tried to use your code but it says js error "too much recursion... any suggestion ? thanks and congratulation for the work done

#7. Ates Goral on 23 January 2008

Default avatar:Ates GoralI'll take a look at why serialize() is looping.

#6. Kevin on 23 January 2008

Member avatar: Kevin@ Ates Goral: Example 14 is giving: too much recursion after implementing the new get_class function in serialize

#5. Kevin on 23 January 2008

Member avatar: Kevin@ Ates Goral: Works like a charm, I will build this in serialize and add it as a dependency.

About your php-strict/javascript-flexible question. I think we should stay with PHP as close as possible. Hopefully this will provide consistency & clarity for end users. And interoperability between php-js-function throughout the project. This approach should also ensure that no extra function documentation has to be written because PHP's function manual will (in most cases) be valid.

#4. Ates Goral on 22 January 2008

Default avatar:Ates GoralHere's get_class(). I think serialize() now can re-use this one instead of the local getObjectClass() implementation.

I've added the extra instanceof checks solely to match PHP behaviour. They can be removed since JavaScript has no problem with getting class names for simple types or arrays/functions etc. This brings up the question: Are we trying to mimic PHP behaviour as closely as possible or is it all right to introduce additional functionality brought forth by the flexibility of JavaScript?

function get_class(obj) {
// * example 1: get_class(new (function MyClass() {}));
// * returns 1: "MyClass"
// * example 2: get_class({});
// * returns 2: "Object"
// * example 3: get_class([]);
// * returns 3: false
// * example 4: get_class(42);
// * returns 4: false
// * example 5: get_class(window);
// * returns 5: false
// * example 6: get_class(function MyFunction() {});
// * returns 6: false

if (obj instanceof Object && !(obj instanceof Array) &&
!(obj instanceof Function) && obj.constructor) {
var arr = obj.constructor.toString().match(/function\s*(\w+)/);
 
if (arr && arr.length == 2) {
return arr[1];
}
}

return false;
}

#3. Kevin on 22 January 2008

Member avatar: Kevin@ Ates Goral: Thanks, I've updated the function.

#2. Ates Goral on 21 January 2008

Default avatar:Ates GoralHere are some additional test cases:

//    *     example 1: serialize(42);
// * returns 1: i:42;
// * example 2: serialize(3.14);
// * returns 2: d:3.14;
// * example 3: serialize("foo");
// * returns 3: s:3:"foo";
// * example 4: serialize(true);
// * returns 4: b:1;
// * example 5: serialize(new Object());
// * returns 5: O:6:"Object":0:{}
// * example 6: serialize(new (function MyClass() {}));
// * returns 6: O:7:"MyClass":0:{}
// * example 7: serialize(new (function MyClass() { this.prop = 42 }));
// * returns 7: O:7:"MyClass":1:{s:4:"prop";i:42;}
// * example 8: serialize(new Array());
// * returns 8: a:0:{}
// * example 9: serialize([1, 3]);
// * returns 9: a:2:{i:0;i:1;i:1;i:3;}
// * example 10: serialize(undefined);
// * returns 10: N;
// * example 11: serialize(null);
// * returns 11: N;
// * example 12: serialize(NaN);
// * returns 12: false;
// * example 13: serialize(Infinity);
// * returns 13: false;
// * example 14: serialize(window);
// * returns 14: false;
// * example 15: serialize(Array);
// * returns 15: false;
// * example 16: serialize(function doit() {});
// * returns 16: false;
// * example 17: serialize(/./);
// * returns 17: false;

#1. Ates Goral on 21 January 2008

Default avatar:Ates GoralHi Kevin,

Here are a few improvements to what I originally had:

For Array detection, instead of:

("length" in mixed_val)


it's nicer to say:

(mixed_val instanceof Array)


Also, an additional check can be added to handle the NaN and Infinite values:

case "number":
if (mixed_val == NaN || mixed_val == Infinity)
{
return false;
}
...