Common serializer for php and java Object

Question

I'd like to serialize an object from java and to unserialize this object in PhP. I saw different classes in java that does this but they are not able to serialize not primitive object.

By the way, do you know where I can read the details of the language generated by the function 'serialize' of php?

Thank you very much

Bat

I can't really find a spec for the serialized format right now, but it's is pretty obvious if you look at it. That's of course not good enough if you want to write your own implementation for it, but I wouldn't recommend that anyway. — deceze
– deceze ♦, Commented Dec 21, 2010 at 9:08

deceze · Accepted Answer · 2010-12-21 09:03:23Z

1

When unserializing an object in PHP, PHP needs to have the class definition of that object. I doubt you'll get very far if the original class is a Java class.

I'd suggest you go for a language neutral data encapsulation format like JSON. This can be json_decoded into a stdClass object.

answered Dec 21, 2010 at 9:03

deceze♦

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user376112 Over a year ago

I have the definition of the class in Java AND PhP, so it's not a problem. The main default of json_encode() is that it doesn't use the reference of the object. It describre everyhting in JSON even If I have ONE object referenced two times...

deceze Over a year ago

@user Yes, JSON does not do object references. The best solution is probably to write your class so it can initialize itself from JSON data/array. Passing object references around in this fashion is going to be quite a problem though.

user376112 Over a year ago

Or Maybe it should exist another solution to pass an object from java to php... And I don't want to use a bridge between java and php

deceze Over a year ago

@user I think this is a rather non-trivial undertaking. Since PHP simply isn't Java, you can't really pass objects around as-is. Even if Java could easily serialize objects to PHP format, PHP will need to construct a new object and set its state to whatever data is in the serialized string. Instead of trying to match the serialization format between the two languages and get PHP to do that for you, just pass the data in a language neutral format and initialize the object's state manually. IMO that's a much easier and more modular approach.

user376112 Over a year ago

ok. And do you know where I can find the specification of the ouptut format of the function encode() of PhP?

rjsang · Accepted Answer · 2010-12-21 10:07:20Z

0

What you need is to make the Java serialization produce a serialized form that PHP understands. This can be done by creating a method with the following signature:

private void writeObject(OutputStream out)

on the Java class. This can be used to customise the serialized form of the object. Check out this excerpt from the excellent book Effective Java by Joshua Bloch that explains how to do this (you'll need to subscribe or get a free trial to read the link, but I do recommend it)

http://my.safaribooksonline.com/book/programming/java/9780137150021/serialization/ch11lev1sec2

Unfortunately, not being a PHP developer, I can't comment too much on what the form should be. Hopefully, someone else here can help you with that.

answered Dec 21, 2010 at 10:07

rjsang

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1 Comment

user376112 Over a year ago

I'm creating my own serializer but It's difficult without the specification of php...

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