I am personally (currently) relying on the approach where array conversion
gives me the values of the various properties as objects (when they are
objects), so I wouldn't like another magic operator in there (to deal
with/workaround).
Wondering why this approach would be better than doing a recursive array
map iteration.

Pardon my naive and inelegant way of dealing with maps (see the running
example at http://3v4l.org/ZOodL ):

class ObjectToArrayConverter
{
/**
* @param mixed $value
*
* @raturn array
*/
public static function toArray($value)
{
if (! (is_object($value) || is_array($value))) {
return $value;
}

    if (is_object($value) && method_exists($value, '__toArray')) {
        return $value->__toArray();
    }

    return array_map(__METHOD__, (array) $value);
}

}

Marco Pivetta

http://twitter.com/Ocramius

http://ocramius.github.com/

Hi,

I've got an idea for adding common way to convert array from object:
ArraySerializable interface and to allow the changing of existing
array conversion mechanism.
As an example of this change, consider the following code-snippet:

$person = new StdClass();
$person->name = "John";
$phone = new StdClass();
$phone->number = "12345";
$person->phone = $phone;

var_dump((array)$person);
#array(2) {
#  ["name"]=>
#  string(4) "John"
#  ["phone"]=>
#  object(stdClass)#2 (1) {
#    ["number"]=>
#    string(5) "12345"
#  }
#}

Currently, the implicit object to array conversion does not work
recursively. This propose changes object to array conversion behaviour
which implements ArraySerializable interface. specifically
ArraySerializable::__toArray method overrides current (array) cast.

interface ArraySerializable
{
    /** @return array */
    public function __toArray();
}

ArraySerializable interface provides common way to convert to array
from object. also impose conversion rule.

• __toArray() returning value excepts an array and It values only
  accepts primitive type. (long, double, string and array)
  • do cast to array operation when the value contains object which
    implements ArraySerializable interface
  • otherwise, raise RuntimeException.
• __toArray() method calls implicitly when cast to array from object.

This feature improves object to portable format (like json) conversion
mechanism.

rough propose document and patch are here:
https://gist.github.com/chobie/7890899

I want to get feedback about this propose. If I get a good response
I'll investigate potential issues and improve rfc and patch.

Thanks,
Shuhei

I think this would be a great feature. PHP already casts objects to arrays, so being able to customize that behavior would be really helpful.

For example, Guzzle uses a similar interface to handle marshaling objects to associative arrays when serializing requests.

-Michael

Hi,

I've got an idea for adding common way to convert array from object:
ArraySerializable interface and to allow the changing of existing
array conversion mechanism.
As an example of this change, consider the following code-snippet:

$person = new StdClass();
$person->name = "John";
$phone = new StdClass();
$phone->number = "12345";
$person->phone = $phone;

var_dump((array)$person);
#array(2) {

["name"]=>

string(4) "John"

["phone"]=>

object(stdClass)#2 (1) {

["number"]=>

string(5) "12345"

}

#}

Currently, the implicit object to array conversion does not work
recursively. This propose changes object to array conversion behaviour
which implements ArraySerializable interface. specifically
ArraySerializable::__toArray method overrides current (array) cast.

interface ArraySerializable
{
/** @return array */
public function __toArray();
}

ArraySerializable interface provides common way to convert to array
from object. also impose conversion rule.

• __toArray() returning value excepts an array and It values only
  accepts primitive type. (long, double, string and array)
  • do cast to array operation when the value contains object which
    implements ArraySerializable interface
• otherwise, raise RuntimeException.
• __toArray() method calls implicitly when cast to array from object.

This feature improves object to portable format (like json) conversion
mechanism.

rough propose document and patch are here:
https://gist.github.com/chobie/7890899

I want to get feedback about this propose. If I get a good response
I'll investigate potential issues and improve rfc and patch.

Thanks,
Shuhei

> Hi,
>
> I've got an idea for adding common way to convert array from object:
> ArraySerializable interface and to allow the changing of existing
> array conversion mechanism.


...

Currently, the implicit object to array conversion does not work
> recursively. This propose changes object to array conversion behaviour
> which implements ArraySerializable interface. specifically
> ArraySerializable::__toArray method overrides current (array) cast.
>
> interface ArraySerializable
> {
> /** @return array */
> public function __toArray();
> }
>

I have no problems with the proposal in general, however did you see there
is an RFC already related to this (
https://wiki.php.net/rfc/object_cast_to_types) that has a patch you might
like to reference?

I would still like to see the full suite of type-conversion magic methods,
I don't see an argument for implementing one and not the others.

Not sure if this should come with an interface, for example __toString()
does not come with a StringSerializable interface.

Perhaps __toArray() / __toString / __toWhatever should all be available
without an interface, but also have interfaces that wrap them for the sake
of typehinting (which means adding an interface for __toString)