.. index:: single: Serializer
Symfony provides a serializer to serialize/deserialize to and from objects and different formats (e.g. JSON or XML). Before using it, read the :doc:`Serializer component docs </components/serializer>` to get familiar with its philosophy and the normalizers and encoders terminology.
In applications using :ref:`Symfony Flex <symfony-flex>`, run this command to
install the serializer
:ref:`Symfony pack <symfony-packs>` before using it:
$ composer require symfony/serializer-pack
Once enabled, the serializer service can be injected in any service where you need it or it can be used in a controller:
// src/Controller/DefaultController.php namespace App\Controller; use Symfony\Bundle\FrameworkBundle\Controller\AbstractController; use Symfony\Component\Serializer\SerializerInterface; class DefaultController extends AbstractController { public function index(SerializerInterface $serializer) { // keep reading for usage examples } }
Or you can use the serialize
Twig filter in a template:
{{ object|serialize(format = 'json') }}
See the :doc:`twig reference </reference/twig_reference>` for more information.
.. versionadded:: 5.3 A ``serialize`` filter was introduced in Symfony 5.3 that uses the Serializer component.
Once enabled, the serializer
service will be available in the container.
It comes with a set of useful :ref:`encoders <component-serializer-encoders>`
and :ref:`normalizers <component-serializer-normalizers>`.
Encoders supporting the following formats are enabled:
- JSON: :class:`Symfony\\Component\\Serializer\\Encoder\\JsonEncoder`
- XML: :class:`Symfony\\Component\\Serializer\\Encoder\\XmlEncoder`
- CSV: :class:`Symfony\\Component\\Serializer\\Encoder\\CsvEncoder`
- YAML: :class:`Symfony\\Component\\Serializer\\Encoder\\YamlEncoder`
As well as the following normalizers:
- :class:`Symfony\\Component\\Serializer\\Normalizer\\ObjectNormalizer` to handle typical data objects
- :class:`Symfony\\Component\\Serializer\\Normalizer\\DateTimeNormalizer` for objects implementing the :phpclass:`DateTimeInterface` interface
- :class:`Symfony\\Component\\Serializer\\Normalizer\\DateTimeZoneNormalizer` for :phpclass:`DateTimeZone` objects
- :class:`Symfony\\Component\\Serializer\\Normalizer\\DateIntervalNormalizer` for :phpclass:`DateInterval` objects
- :class:`Symfony\\Component\\Serializer\\Normalizer\\DataUriNormalizer` to transform :phpclass:`SplFileInfo` objects in Data URIs
- :class:`Symfony\\Component\\Serializer\\Normalizer\\FormErrorNormalizer` for objects implementing the :class:`Symfony\\Component\\Form\\FormInterface` to normalize form errors.
- :class:`Symfony\\Component\\Serializer\\Normalizer\\JsonSerializableNormalizer` to deal with objects implementing the :phpclass:`JsonSerializable` interface
- :class:`Symfony\\Component\\Serializer\\Normalizer\\ArrayDenormalizer` to
denormalize arrays of objects using a notation like
MyObject[]
(note the[]
suffix) - :class:`Symfony\\Component\\Serializer\\Normalizer\\ConstraintViolationListNormalizer` for objects implementing the :class:`Symfony\\Component\\Validator\\ConstraintViolationListInterface` interface
- :class:`Symfony\\Component\\Serializer\\Normalizer\\ProblemNormalizer` for :class:`Symfony\\Component\\ErrorHandler\\Exception\\FlattenException` objects
Custom normalizers and/or encoders can also be loaded by tagging them as :ref:`serializer.normalizer <reference-dic-tags-serializer-normalizer>` and :ref:`serializer.encoder <reference-dic-tags-serializer-encoder>`. It's also possible to set the priority of the tag in order to decide the matching order.
Caution!
Always make sure to load the DateTimeNormalizer
when serializing the
DateTime
or DateTimeImmutable
classes to avoid excessive memory
usage and exposing internal details.
Here is an example on how to load the
:class:`Symfony\\Component\\Serializer\\Normalizer\\GetSetMethodNormalizer`, a
faster alternative to the ObjectNormalizer when data objects always use
getters (getXxx()
), issers (isXxx()
) or hassers (hasXxx()
) to read
properties and setters (setXxx()
) to change properties:
.. configuration-block:: .. code-block:: yaml # config/services.yaml services: get_set_method_normalizer: class: Symfony\Component\Serializer\Normalizer\GetSetMethodNormalizer tags: [serializer.normalizer] .. code-block:: xml <!-- config/services.xml --> <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?> <container xmlns="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services https://symfony.com/schema/dic/services/services-1.0.xsd"> <services> <service id="get_set_method_normalizer" class="Symfony\Component\Serializer\Normalizer\GetSetMethodNormalizer"> <tag name="serializer.normalizer"/> </service> </services> </container> .. code-block:: php // config/services.php namespace Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\Loader\Configurator; use Symfony\Component\Serializer\Normalizer\GetSetMethodNormalizer; return function(ContainerConfigurator $configurator) { $services = $configurator->services(); $services->set('get_set_method_normalizer', GetSetMethodNormalizer::class) ->tag('serializer.normalizer') ; };
To use annotations, first add support for them via the SensioFrameworkExtraBundle:
$ composer require sensio/framework-extra-bundle
Next, add the :ref:`@Groups annotations <component-serializer-attributes-groups-annotations>` to your class:
// src/Entity/Product.php namespace App\Entity; use Doctrine\ORM\Mapping as ORM; use Symfony\Component\Serializer\Annotation\Groups; /** * @ORM\Entity() */ class Product { /** * @ORM\Id * @ORM\GeneratedValue * @ORM\Column(type="integer") * @Groups({"show_product", "list_product"}) */ private $id; /** * @ORM\Column(type="string", length=255) * @Groups({"show_product", "list_product"}) */ private $name; /** * @ORM\Column(type="integer") * @Groups({"show_product"}) */ private $description; }
You can now choose which groups to use when serializing:
$json = $serializer->serialize( $product, 'json', ['groups' => 'show_product'] );
Tip
The value of the groups
key can be a single string, or an array of strings.
In addition to the @Groups
annotation, the Serializer component also
supports YAML or XML files. These files are automatically loaded when being
stored in one of the following locations:
- All
*.yaml
and*.xml
files in theconfig/serializer/
directory. - The
serialization.yaml
orserialization.xml
file in theResources/config/
directory of a bundle; - All
*.yaml
and*.xml
files in theResources/config/serialization/
directory of a bundle.
The metadata for the serializer is automatically cached to enhance application
performance. By default, the serializer uses the cache.system
cache pool
which is configured using the :ref:`cache.system <reference-cache-system>`
option.
The use of a :ref:`name converter <component-serializer-converting-property-names-when-serializing-and-deserializing>` service can be defined in the configuration using the :ref:`name_converter <reference-serializer-name_converter>` option.
The built-in :ref:`CamelCase to snake_case name converter <using-camelized-method-names-for-underscored-attributes>`
can be enabled by using the serializer.name_converter.camel_case_to_snake_case
value:
.. configuration-block:: .. code-block:: yaml # config/packages/framework.yaml framework: # ... serializer: name_converter: 'serializer.name_converter.camel_case_to_snake_case' .. code-block:: xml <!-- config/packages/framework.xml --> <framework:config> <!-- ... --> <framework:serializer name-converter="serializer.name_converter.camel_case_to_snake_case"/> </framework:config> .. code-block:: php // config/packages/framework.php use Symfony\Config\FrameworkConfig; return static function (FrameworkConfig $framework) { $framework->serializer()->nameConverter('serializer.name_converter.camel_case_to_snake_case'); };
API Platform provides an API system supporting the following formats:
- JSON-LD along with the Hydra Core Vocabulary
- OpenAPI v2 (formerly Swagger) and v3
- GraphQL
- JSON:API
- HAL
- JSON
- XML
- YAML
- CSV
It is built on top of the Symfony Framework and its Serializer component. It provides custom normalizers and a custom encoder, custom metadata and a caching system.
If you want to leverage the full power of the Symfony Serializer component, take a look at how this bundle works.
.. toctree:: :maxdepth: 1 serializer/normalizers serializer/custom_encoders serializer/custom_normalizer