Core Function Serialize
Serialize( <variable> )
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Description
Convert a variable, array, class etc a string you can save to file or transfer over the internet.
Parameters
variable
The variable to serialize.
Return Value
Success: Returns serialized variable.
Failure: Returns null.
Remarks
This can be used as a very fast effective way to dump arrays/classes to a file and read it back later.
It is faster than the JSON stuff however it is not as portable and will only work within Sputnik.
To read this in another language you would need to first read it into Sputnik then dump it as JSON.
It is worth noting that Sputniks serializer has been *finalized* and will not change in the future however new data types may be added to it making older versions of Sputnik unable to unserialize something from a newer version.
The serializer in Sputnik shares some similarities with the one with PHP in terms of how it lays out the value this means simple types like *String* may convert to PHP but more complex types like Arrays etc will not.
If you are unserializing a string that contains a class and a class with that name cannot be located it will create an instance of IncompleteClass instead you can check for this by doing:
IsVarClass($a, 'IncompleteClass');
Example
Serialize a string
// Make a value $a = "Hello"; // Serialize it my $s = Serialize($a); // Print the serialized say $s; // PRINTS // p:5:"Hello"; // Unserialize is my $b = Unserialize($s); // Print it say $b; // PRINTS // Hello
Serialize a number
// Make a value $a = 777; // Serialize it my $s = Serialize($a); // Print the serialized say $s; // PRINTS // l:777; // Unserialize is my $b = Unserialize($s); // Print it say $b; // PRINTS // 777
Serialize an array
// Make an array // Note - You could include multiple arrays inside arrays and so on $a = array(100, "Cat", "Dog"); // Serialize it my $s = Serialize($a); // Print the serialized say $s; // PRINTS // a:l:3;l:0;l:3;i:0;:{l:0;l:100;l:1;p:3:"Cat";l:2;p:3:"Dog";} // Unserialize is my $b = Unserialize($s); // Print it printr $b; // PRINTS // Array // ( // [0] => 100 // [1] => Cat // [2] => Dog // )
Serialize a class
// Make a Class Class Test { my $cat; my $dog; // This function is called when you create a class Function __Construct($catGoes, $dogGoes) { $cat = $catGoes; $dog = $dogGoes; say "Class 'Test' made"; } // This function is called when you serialize a class Function __Sleep() { say "Class 'Test' sleeps"; } // This function is called when you unserialize a class Function __WakeUp() { say "Class 'Test' woken up"; } }; // Create class instance $a = new Test('meow', 'woof'); // Serialize it my $s = Serialize($a); // Print the serialized say $s; // PRINTS // oc:p:4:"test";{a:l:2;l:0;l:0;i:2;:{p:3:"cat";p:4:"meow";p:3:"dog";p:4:"woof";}} // Unserialize is my $b = Unserialize($s); // Print it printr $b; // PRINTS // test Class // ( // [cat] => meow // [dog] => woof // ) // Lets double check it worked by calling the classes variables say "Cat goes? : " . $b->$cat; say "Dog goes? : " . $b->$dog; // PRINTS // Cat goes? : meow // Dog goes? : woof
