Skip to main content

📩 Serialization

Serialization is a technique used to pass object and variables statuses between different evironment.

PHP

In PHP serialize and unserialize functions are used for serialization. They can be used to pass object with properties.

<?php
/*
Credits to "egingell at sisna dot com"
https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.serialize.php#66147

Anatomy of a serialize()'ed value:

String
s:size:value;

Integer
i:value;

Boolean
b:value; (does not store "true" or "false", does store '1' or '0')

Null
N;

Array
a:size:{key definition;value definition;(repeated per element)}

Object
O:strlen(object name):object name:object size:{s:strlen(property name):property name:property definition;(repeated per property)}

String values are always in double quotes
Array keys are always integers or strings
"null => 'value'" equates to 's:0:"";s:5:"value";',
"true => 'value'" equates to 'i:1;s:5:"value";',
"false => 'value'" equates to 'i:0;s:5:"value";',
"array(whatever the contents) => 'value'" equates to an "illegal offset type" warning because you can't use an
array as a key; however, if you use a variable containing an array as a key, it will equate to 's:5:"Array";s:5:"value";',
and
attempting to use an object as a key will result in the same behavior as using an array will.
*/
?>