serialize

Generates a storable representation of a value.

serialize Function synopsis

serialize(mixed $value): string

Parameters

$value

Typemixed

The value to be serialized. serialize handles all types, except the resource-type and some objects (see note below). You can even serialize arrays that contain references to itself. Circular references inside the array/object you are serializing will also be stored. Any other reference will be lost.

Return value

Typestring

Returns a string containing a byte-stream representation of $value that can be stored anywhere.

Note that this is a binary string which may include null bytes, and needs to be stored and handled as such. For example, serialize output should generally be stored in a BLOB field in a database, rather than a CHAR or TEXT field.