README

ArrayOfObjects Normalizer for Symfony/Serializer component. This normalizer allows to (de-)serialize ArrayObjects and ArrayOfObjects from BartoszBartniczak\ArrayOfObjects library.

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Configuration

<?php

use Symfony\Component\Serializer\Encoder\JsonEncoder;
use Symfony\Component\Serializer\Normalizer\ObjectNormalizer;
use Symfony\Component\Serializer\Serializer;
use BartoszBartniczak\SymfonySerializer\Normalizer\ArrayOfObjectsNormalizer;
use BartoszBartniczak\SymfonySerializer\Normalizer\ArrayObjectNormalizer;

$normalizers =[
     new ArrayOfObjectsNormalizer(), //add this normalizer for ArrayOfObjects (de-)serialization
    new ArrayObjectNormalizer(), //add this normalizer for ArrayObject (de-)serialization
    new ObjectNormalizer(),
];

$encoders = [
    new JsonEncoder(),
];

$serializer = new Serializer($normalizers, $encoders);

ArrayOfObjects (de-)serialization

use BartoszBartniczak\ArrayObject\ArrayOfObjects;
use BartoszBartniczak\SymfonySerializer\Normalizer\Fixtures\Person;

$arrayOfObjects = new ArrayOfObjects(Person::class, [
            'einstein' => new Person('Albert Einstein'),
            'tesla' => new Person('Nikola Tesla')
        ]);

$json = $serializer->serialize($arrayOfObjects, 'json');

In the $json variable you should contains now this JSON document:

{
  "className": "BartoszBartniczak\\SymfonySerializer\\Normalizer\\Fixtures\\Person",
  "storage": {
    "einstein": {
      "name": "Albert Einstein"
    },
    "tesla": {
      "name": "Nikola Tesla"
    }
  }
}

Now you can deserialize this object:

$serializer->deserialize($json, ArrayOfObjects::class, 'json');

You do not need to define the type of elements. The className parameter is used for de-serialization.

Subclasses (extending the ArrayofObjects class)

This Normalizer supports inheritance of objects. You can extend the ArrayofObjects (e.g. for adding some methods) and this Normalizer still will be able to (de-)serialize objects.

use BartoszBartniczak\ArrayObject\ArrayOfObjects;
use BartoszBartniczak\SymfonySerializer\Normalizer\Fixtures\Person;

class ArrayOfObjectsSubclass extends ArrayOfObjects{
    
}

$arrayOfObjects = new ArrayOfObjectsSubclass(Person::class, [
            'einstein' => new Person('Albert Einstein'),
            'tesla' => new Person('Nikola Tesla')
        ]);

$json = $serializer->serialize($arrayOfObjects, 'json');

$serializer->deserialize($json, ArrayOfObjectsSubclass::class, 'json');

Subclasses with custom constructor

Very often, we create arrays that contain a specific type of object e.g. PersonArray, which can contain only Person objects.

new ArrayOfObjects(Person::class)

There is no reason to define the type, every time you create the ArrayOfObjects which should contain Person objects.

You can create a class which extends ArrayOfObjects:

class PersonArray extends ArrayOfObjects{

    public function __construct($input = null, $flags = 0, $iterator_class = "ArrayIterator")
        {
            parent::__construct(Person::class, $input, $flags, $iterator_class);
        }

}

The only problem is the deserialization process, which uses constructor to build the object. So, you need to define a \Closure function, which will be able to create your custom array.

For above example, it could look like this:

$arrayOfObjectsNormalizer = new ArrayOfObjectsNormalizer();
$arrayOfObjectsNormalizer->addConstructorForClass(PersonArray::class, function (array $data, string $className){
    return new PersonArray($data[ArrayOfObjectsNormalizer::PROPERTY_STORAGE]);
});

Then you need to register this normalizer.

$normalizers =[
    $arrayOfObjectsNormalizer,
    new ArrayObjectNormalizer(),
    new ObjectNormalizer(),
];

$encoders = [
    new JsonEncoder(),
];

$serializer = new Serializer($normalizers, $encoders);

Now, you can (de-)serialize PersonArray.

$object = new PersonArray([
    'einstein' => new Person('Albert Einstein'),
    'tesla' => new Person('Nikola Tesla')
]);
$json = $serializer->serialize($object, 'json');

$serializer->deserialize($json, PersonArray::class, 'json');

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