PHP's serialize in JavaScript

How to use

You you can install via yarn add locutus and require this function via const serialize = require('locutus/php/var/serialize').

It is important to use a bundler that supports tree-shaking so that you only ship the functions that you actually use to your browser, instead of all of Locutus, which is massive. Examples are: Parcel, webpack, or rollup.js. For server-side use this is typically less of a concern.

Examples

Please note that these examples are distilled from test cases that automatically verify our functions still work correctly. This could explain some quirky ones.

#	code	expected result
1	serialize(['Kevin', 'van', 'Zonneveld'])	'a:3:{i:0;s:5:"Kevin";i:1;s:3:"van";i:2;s:9:"Zonneveld";}'
2	serialize({firstName: 'Kevin', midName: 'van'})	'a:2:{s:9:"firstName";s:5:"Kevin";s:7:"midName";s:3:"van";}'
3	serialize( {'ü': 'ü', '四': '四', '𠜎': '𠜎'})	'a:3:{s:2:"ü";s:2:"ü";s:3:"四";s:3:"四";s:4:"𠜎";s:4:"𠜎";}'

Notes

• We feel the main purpose of this function should be to ease the transport of data between php & js Aiming for PHP-compatibility, we have to translate objects to arrays

Here’s what our current JavaScript equivalent to PHP's serialize looks like.

module.exports = function serialize(mixedValue) {
  //  discuss at: https://locutus.io/php/serialize/
  // original by: Arpad Ray (mailto:arpad@php.net)
  // improved by: Dino
  // improved by: Le Torbi (https://www.letorbi.de/)
  // improved by: Kevin van Zonneveld (https://kvz.io/)
  // bugfixed by: Andrej Pavlovic
  // bugfixed by: Garagoth
  // bugfixed by: Russell Walker (https://www.nbill.co.uk/)
  // bugfixed by: Jamie Beck (https://www.terabit.ca/)
  // bugfixed by: Kevin van Zonneveld (https://kvz.io/)
  // bugfixed by: Ben (https://benblume.co.uk/)
  // bugfixed by: Codestar (https://codestarlive.com/)
  // bugfixed by: idjem (https://github.com/idjem)
  //    input by: DtTvB (https://dt.in.th/2008-09-16.string-length-in-bytes.html)
  //    input by: Martin (https://www.erlenwiese.de/)
  //      note 1: We feel the main purpose of this function should be to ease
  //      note 1: the transport of data between php & js
  //      note 1: 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'})
  //   returns 2: 'a:2:{s:9:"firstName";s:5:"Kevin";s:7:"midName";s:3:"van";}'
  //   example 3: serialize( {'ü': 'ü', '四': '四', '𠜎': '𠜎'})
  //   returns 3: 'a:3:{s:2:"ü";s:2:"ü";s:3:"四";s:3:"四";s:4:"𠜎";s:4:"𠜎";}'

  let val, key, okey
  let ktype = ''
  let vals = ''
  let count = 0

  const _utf8Size = function (str) {
    return ~-encodeURI(str).split(/%..|./).length
  }

  const _getType = function (inp) {
    let match
    let key
    let cons
    let types
    let type = typeof inp

    if (type === 'object' && !inp) {
      return 'null'
    }

    if (type === 'object') {
      if (!inp.constructor) {
        return 'object'
      }
      cons = inp.constructor.toString()
      match = cons.match(/(\w+)\(/)
      if (match) {
        cons = match[1].toLowerCase()
      }
      types = ['boolean', 'number', 'string', 'array']
      for (key in types) {
        if (cons === types[key]) {
          type = types[key]
          break
        }
      }
    }
    return type
  }

  const type = _getType(mixedValue)

  switch (type) {
    case 'function':
      val = ''
      break
    case 'boolean':
      val = 'b:' + (mixedValue ? '1' : '0')
      break
    case 'number':
      val = (Math.round(mixedValue) === mixedValue ? 'i' : 'd') + ':' + mixedValue
      break
    case 'string':
      val = 's:' + _utf8Size(mixedValue) + ':"' + mixedValue + '"'
      break
    case 'array':
    case 'object':
      val = 'a'
      /*
      if (type === 'object') {
        var objname = mixedValue.constructor.toString().match(/(\w+)\(\)/);
        if (objname === undefined) {
          return;
        }
        objname[1] = serialize(objname[1]);
        val = 'O' + objname[1].substring(1, objname[1].length - 1);
      }
      */

      for (key in mixedValue) {
        if (mixedValue.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
          ktype = _getType(mixedValue[key])
          if (ktype === 'function') {
            continue
          }

          okey = key.match(/^[0-9]+$/) ? parseInt(key, 10) : key
          vals += serialize(okey) + serialize(mixedValue[key])
          count++
        }
      }
      val += ':' + count + ':{' + vals + '}'
      break
    case 'undefined':
    default:
      // Fall-through
      // if the JS object has a property which contains a null value,
      // the string cannot be unserialized by PHP
      val = 'N'
      break
  }
  if (type !== 'object' && type !== 'array') {
    val += ';'
  }

  return val
}

A community effort

Not unlike Wikipedia, Locutus is an ongoing community effort. Our philosophy follows The McDonald’s Theory. This means that we assimilate first iterations with imperfections, hoping for others to take issue with-and improve them. This unorthodox approach has worked very well to foster fun and fruitful collaboration, but please be reminded to use our creations at your own risk. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" has never been more true than for Locutus.

Now go and: [ View on GitHub | Edit on GitHub | View Raw ]

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