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Date: Tue, 14 May 2019 08:51:21 -0400
Cc: PHP internals <internals@lists.php.net>
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To: Nikita Popov <nikita.ppv@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] Add get_mangled_object_properties()
From: stevenwadejr@gmail.com (Steven Wade)

> Inspired by the recent discussion on __toArray(), I'd like to propose =
the
> addition of a get_mangled_object_properties() function, implemented in
> https://github.com/php/php-src/pull/4163.
>=20
> This function returns the mangled object properties (duh...), which =
matches
> the behavior of the (array) cast, with the difference that an =
overloaded
> (array) cast will be ignored. To the best of my knowledge the only =
internal
> class currently doing this is ArrayObject.
>=20
> There are a couple of motivation for this:
> 1. It makes it more obvious that code operates on mangled properties. =
This
> allows clearly distinguishing (array) casts used for low-level object
> introspection and (array) casts used for things like converting =
between
> stdClass and arrays.
> 2. It is more robust, because it is not affected by overloading. At =
least
> in theory it allows us to introduce the __toArray() method proposed in =
the
> other thread (though I don't personally endorse this).
> 3. Longer term, it would allow us to change (array) to return =
non-mangled
> (visibility-respecting) properties -- the current behavior is a WTF =
factor
> for anyone who doesn't happen to work on serialization or dumping =
libraries.
>=20
> Thoughts?
>=20
> Regards,
> Nikita

I think this is a great idea. Not just because I want __toArray() to =
succeed, but because some of the concerns raised by its discussions were =
mainly focused on the odd behavior that current array casting exhibits =
and possibly losing that. By introducing this new function, it can be a =
more appropriate method of gaining insight into a class' properties.

I like the idea of renaming the function to "get_mangled_object_vars()" =
that was mentioned on the PR. It does bring it more in line with current =
naming schemes.

--
Steven Wade
stevenwadejr@gmail.com