The PHP serialization format is the serialization format used by the PHP programming language. The format can serialize PHP's primitive and compound types, and also properly serializes references.[1] The format was first introduced in PHP 4.[2]
In addition to PHP, the format is also used by some third-party applications that are often integrated with PHP applications, for example by Lucene/Solr.[3]
The syntax generally follows the pattern of one-letter code of the variable type, followed by a colon and the length of the data, followed by the variable value, and ending with a semicolon.
| Type | Serialization examples | |
|---|---|---|
| Null | N; | |
| Boolean | b:1;b:0; | |
| Integer | i:685230;i:-685230; | |
| Floating point | d:685230.15;d:INF;d:-INF;d:NAN; | |
| String | s:5:"apple";s:6:"A to Z"; | |
| Associative array | a:4:{i:0;b:1;i:1;N;i:2;d:-421000000;i:3;s:6:"A to Z";}<nowiki>a:2:{i:42;b:1;s:6:"A to Z";a:3:{i:0;i:1;i:1;i:2;i:2;i:3;}}</nowiki> | |
| Object | O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:4:"John";d:3.14;s:4:"Jane";d:2.718;} |