.. 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
}
}
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\\DataUriNormalizer` to transform :phpclass:`SplFileInfo` objects in Data URIs
- :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 format like MyObject[] (note the [] suffix)
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.
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
public: false
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" public="false">
<tag name="serializer.normalizer"/>
</service>
</services>
</container>
.. code-block:: php
// config/services.php
use Symfony\Component\Serializer\Normalizer\GetSetMethodNormalizer;
$container->register('get_set_method_normalizer', GetSetMethodNormalizer::class)
->setPublic(false)
->addTag('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 and choose which groups to use when serializing:
$json = $serializer->serialize(
$someObject,
'json', ['groups' => 'group1']
);
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
*.yamland*.xmlfiles in theconfig/serializer/directory. - The
serialization.yamlorserialization.xmlfile in theResources/config/directory of a bundle; - All
*.yamland*.xmlfiles 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
$container->loadFromExtension('framework', [
// ...
'serializer' => [
'name_converter' => '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