php-doc-en/reference/igbinary/functions/igbinary-serialize.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<refentry xml:id="function.igbinary-serialize" xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">
 <refnamediv>
  <refname>igbinary_serialize</refname>
  <refpurpose>Generates a compact, storable binary representation of a value</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <refsect1 role="description">
  &reftitle.description;
  <methodsynopsis>
   <type class="union"><type>string</type><type>false</type></type><methodname>igbinary_serialize</methodname>
   <methodparam><type>mixed</type><parameter>value</parameter></methodparam>
  </methodsynopsis>
  <para>
   Generates a storable representation of a value.
  </para>
  <para>
   This is useful for storing or passing PHP values around without
   losing their type and structure.
  </para>
  <para>
   To make the serialized string into a PHP value again,
   <function>igbinary_unserialize</function> can be used.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 role="parameters">
  &reftitle.parameters;
  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><parameter>value</parameter></term>
    <listitem>
      <para>
       The value to be serialized. <function>igbinary_serialize</function>
       handles all types, except the <type>resource</type>-type and some <type>object</type>s (see note below).
       Even &array;s that contain references to itself can be <function>igbinary_serialize</function>d.
       Circular references inside the &array; or &object; that is being serializend will also be stored.
       Any other reference will be lost.
      </para>
      <para>
       When serializing objects, igbinary will attempt to call the member functions
       <link linkend="object.serialize">__serialize()</link> or
       <link linkend="object.sleep">__sleep()</link> prior to serialization.
       This is to allow the object to do any last minute clean-up, etc. prior
       to being serialized. Likewise, when the object is restored using
       <function>igbinary_unserialize</function> the <link linkend="object.unserialize">__unserialize()</link> or
       <link linkend="object.wakeup">__wakeup()</link> member function is called.
      </para>
      <note>
       <para>
        Private members of &object;s have the class name prepended to the member
        name; protected members have a <literal>'*'</literal> prepended to the member name.
        These prepended values have null bytes on either side.
       </para>
      </note>
     </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 role="returnvalues">
  &reftitle.returnvalues;
  <para>
   Returns a string containing a byte-stream representation of
   <parameter>value</parameter> that can be stored anywhere.
  </para>
  <para>
   Note that this is a binary string which can include any byte value, and needs
   to be stored and handled as such. For example,
   <function>igbinary_serialize</function> output should generally be stored in a <literal>BLOB</literal>
   field in a database, rather than a <literal>CHAR</literal> or <literal>TEXT</literal> field.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 role="examples">
  &reftitle.examples;
  <para>
   <example>
    <title><function>igbinary_serialize</function> example</title>
    <programlisting role="php">
<![CDATA[
<?php
$ser = igbinary_serialize(['test', 'test']);
echo urlencode($ser), "\n";
var_export(igbinary_unserialize($ser));
?>
]]>
    </programlisting>
    &example.outputs;
    <screen>
<![CDATA[
%00%00%00%02%14%02%06%00%11%04test%06%01%0E%00
array (
  0 => 'test',
  1 => 'test',
)
]]>
    </screen>
   </example>
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 role="notes">
  &reftitle.notes;
  <note>
   <para>
    Note that many built-in PHP objects cannot be serialized. However, those with
    this ability either implement the <interfacename>Serializable</interfacename> interface or the
    magic <link linkend="object.serialize">__serialize()</link>/<link linkend="object.unserialize">__unserialize()</link>
    or <link linkend="object.sleep">__sleep()</link>/<link linkend="object.wakeup">__wakeup()</link> methods. If an
    internal class does not fulfill any of those requirements, it cannot reliably be
    serialized with any serializer.
   </para>
   <para>
    There are some historical exceptions to the above rule, where some internal objects
    could be serialized without implementing the interface or exposing the methods.
   </para>
  </note>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 role="seealso">
  &reftitle.seealso;
  <para>
   <simplelist>
    <member><function>serialize</function></member>
    <member><function>igbinary_unserialize</function></member>
    <member><function>var_export</function></member>
    <member><function>json_encode</function></member>
    <member><link linkend="language.oop5.serialization">Serializing Objects</link></member>
    <member><link linkend="object.sleep">__sleep()</link></member>
    <member><link linkend="object.wakeup">__wakeup()</link></member>
    <member><link linkend="object.serialize">__serialize()</link></member>
    <member><link linkend="object.unserialize">__unserialize()</link></member>
   </simplelist>
  </para>
 </refsect1>

</refentry>
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