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JsonSerializable::jsonSerialize

PHP function Edit on GitHub ✎

(PHP 5 >= 5.4.0, PHP 7, PHP 8)

Specify data which should be serialized to JSON

Description

JsonSerializable::jsonSerialize(): mixed

Serializes the object to a value that can be serialized natively by json_encode().

Parameters Parameters

Return Values

Returns data which can be serialized by json_encode(), which is a value of any type other than a Resource.

Examples

JsonSerializable::jsonSerialize example returning an Array

php
<?php
class ArrayValue implements JsonSerializable {
    private $array;
    public function __construct(array $array) {
        $this->array = $array;
    }

    public function jsonSerialize(): mixed {
        return $this->array;
    }
}

$array = [1, 2, 3];
echo json_encode(new ArrayValue($array), JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);
?>

The above example will output:

output
[
    1,
    2,
    3
]

JsonSerializable::jsonSerialize example returning an associative Array

php
<?php
class ArrayValue implements JsonSerializable {
    private $array;
    public function __construct(array $array) {
        $this->array = $array;
    }

    public function jsonSerialize() {
        return $this->array;
    }
}

$array = ['foo' => 'bar', 'quux' => 'baz'];
echo json_encode(new ArrayValue($array), JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);
?>

The above example will output:

output
{
    "foo": "bar",
    "quux": "baz"
}

JsonSerializable::jsonSerialize example returning an Integer

php
<?php
class IntegerValue implements JsonSerializable {
    private $number;
    public function __construct($number) {
        $this->number = (int) $number;
    }

    public function jsonSerialize() {
        return $this->number;
    }
}

echo json_encode(new IntegerValue(1), JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);
?>

The above example will output:

output
1

JsonSerializable::jsonSerialize example returning a String

php
<?php
class StringValue implements JsonSerializable {
    private $string;
    public function __construct($string) {
        $this->string = (string) $string;
    }

    public function jsonSerialize() {
        return $this->string;
    }
}

echo json_encode(new StringValue('Hello!'), JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);
?>

The above example will output:

output
"Hello!"

Source: reference/json/jsonserializable/jsonserialize.xml · from the official PHP manual (php/doc-en)