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DateTime::__unserialize

PHP function Edit on GitHub ✎

(PHP 8 >= 8.2.0)

Unserialize an Datetime

Description

DateTime::__unserialize(array $data): void

DateTimeImmutable::__unserialize(array $data): void

DateTimeInterface::__unserialize(array $data): void

The __unserialize() handler.

Parameters

data: The serialized DateTime.

Return Values

Void

Examples

DateTime::__unserialize example

php

<?php

class CustomDateTimeImmutable extends DateTimeImmutable
{
    #[\Override]
    public function __unserialize(array $data): void
    {
        echo "Time to `{$data['to']}`:\n\n";

        parent::__construct($data['date'], new DateTimeZone($data['timezone']));
    }
}

$serializedData = 'O:23:"CustomDateTimeImmutable":4:{s:4:"date";s:25:"2025-03-27T00:00:00+00:00";s:9:"timestamp";i:1743033600;s:8:"timezone";s:3:"UTC";s:2:"to";s:21:"Drink a cup of coffee";}';

var_dump(unserialize($serializedData));

The above example will output:

output

Time to `Drink a cup of coffee`:

object(CustomDateTimeImmutable)#1 (3) {
  ["date"]=>
  string(26) "2025-03-27 00:00:00.000000"
  ["timezone_type"]=>
  int(1)
  ["timezone"]=>
  string(6) "+00:00"
}

Notes

Warning

An Error is thrown when attempting to unserialize a custom DateTime object if __serialize() is defined but __unserialize() is missing.