Convert/cast an stdClass object to another class

Question

I'm using a third party storage system that only returns me stdClass objects no matter what I feed in for some obscure reason. So I'm curious to know if there is a way to cast/convert an stdClass object into a full fledged object of a given type.

For instance something along the lines of:

//$stdClass is an stdClass instance
$converted = (BusinessClass) $stdClass;

I am just casting the stdClass into an array and feed it to the BusinessClass constructor, but maybe there is a way to restore the initial class that I am not aware of.

Note: I am not interested in 'Change your storage system' type of answers since it is not the point of interest. Please consider it more an academic question on the language capacities.

Cheers

Answer 1

See the manual on Type Juggling on possible casts.

The casts allowed are:

• (int), (integer) - cast to integer
• (bool), (boolean) - cast to boolean
• (float), (double), (real) - cast to float
• (string) - cast to string
• (array) - cast to array
• (object) - cast to object
• (unset) - cast to NULL (PHP 5)

You would have to write a Mapper that does the casting from stdClass to another concrete class. Shouldn't be too hard to do.

Or, if you are in a hackish mood, you could adapt the following code:

function arrayToObject(array $array, $className) {
    return unserialize(sprintf(
        'O:%d:"%s"%s',
        strlen($className),
        $className,
        strstr(serialize($array), ':')
    ));
}

which pseudocasts an array to an object of a certain class. This works by first serializing the array and then changing the serialized data so that it represents a certain class. The result is unserialized to an instance of this class then. But like I said, it's hackish, so expect side-effects.

For object to object, the code would be

function objectToObject($instance, $className) {
    return unserialize(sprintf(
        'O:%d:"%s"%s',
        strlen($className),
        $className,
        strstr(strstr(serialize($instance), '"'), ':')
    ));
}

Answer 2

And yet another approach using the decorator pattern and PHPs magic getter & setters:

// A simple StdClass object    
$stdclass = new StdClass();
$stdclass->foo = 'bar';

// Decorator base class to inherit from
class Decorator {

    protected $object = NULL;

    public function __construct($object)
    {
       $this->object = $object;  
    }

    public function __get($property_name)
    {
        return $this->object->$property_name;   
    }

    public function __set($property_name, $value)
    {
        $this->object->$property_name = $value;   
    }
}

class MyClass extends Decorator {}

$myclass = new MyClass($stdclass)

// Use the decorated object in any type-hinted function/method
function test(MyClass $object) {
    echo $object->foo . '<br>';
    $object->foo = 'baz';
    echo $object->foo;   
}

test($myclass);

Answer 3

To move all existing properties of a stdClass to a new object of a specified class name:

/**
 * recast stdClass object to an object with type
 *
 * @param string $className
 * @param stdClass $object
 * @throws InvalidArgumentException
 * @return mixed new, typed object
 */
function recast($className, stdClass &$object)
{
    if (!class_exists($className))
        throw new InvalidArgumentException(sprintf('Inexistant class %s.', $className));

    $new = new $className();

    foreach($object as $property => &$value)
    {
        $new->$property = &$value;
        unset($object->$property);
    }
    unset($value);
    $object = (unset) $object;
    return $new;
}

Usage:

$array = array('h','n');

$obj=new stdClass;
$obj->action='auth';
$obj->params= &$array;
$obj->authKey=md5('i');

class RestQuery{
    public $action;
    public $params=array();
    public $authKey='';
}

$restQuery = recast('RestQuery', $obj);

var_dump($restQuery, $obj);

Output:

object(RestQuery)#2 (3) {
  ["action"]=>
  string(4) "auth"
  ["params"]=>
  &array(2) {
    [0]=>
    string(1) "h"
    [1]=>
    string(1) "n"
  }
  ["authKey"]=>
  string(32) "865c0c0b4ab0e063e5caa3387c1a8741"
}
NULL

This is limited because of the new operator as it is unknown which parameters it would need. For your case probably fitting.

Answer 4

I have a very similar problem. Simplified reflection solution worked just fine for me:

public static function cast($destination, \stdClass $source)
{
    $sourceReflection = new \ReflectionObject($source);
    $sourceProperties = $sourceReflection->getProperties();
    foreach ($sourceProperties as $sourceProperty) {
        $name = $sourceProperty->getName();
        $destination->{$name} = $source->$name;
    }
    return $destination;
}

Answer 5

Yet another approach.

The following is now possible thanks to the recent PHP 7 version.

$theStdClass = (object) [
  'a' => 'Alpha',
  'b' => 'Bravo',
  'c' => 'Charlie',
  'd' => 'Delta',
];

$foo = new class($theStdClass)  {
  public function __construct($data) {
    if (!is_array($data)) {
      $data = (array) $data;
    }

    foreach ($data as $prop => $value) {
      $this->{$prop} = $value;
    }
  }
  public function word4Letter($letter) {
    return $this->{$letter};
  }
};

print $foo->word4Letter('a') . PHP_EOL; // Alpha
print $foo->word4Letter('b') . PHP_EOL; // Bravo
print $foo->word4Letter('c') . PHP_EOL; // Charlie
print $foo->word4Letter('d') . PHP_EOL; // Delta
print $foo->word4Letter('e') . PHP_EOL; // PHP Notice:  Undefined property

In this example, $foo is being initialized as an anonymous class that takes one array or stdClass as only parameter for the constructor.

Eventually, we loop through the each items contained in the passed object and dynamically assign then to an object's property.

To make this approch event more generic, you can write an interface or a Trait that you will implement in any class where you want to be able to cast an stdClass.

Answer 6

You can use above function for casting not similar class objects (PHP >= 5.3)

/**
 * Class casting
 *
 * @param string|object $destination
 * @param object $sourceObject
 * @return object
 */
function cast($destination, $sourceObject)
{
    if (is_string($destination)) {
        $destination = new $destination();
    }
    $sourceReflection = new ReflectionObject($sourceObject);
    $destinationReflection = new ReflectionObject($destination);
    $sourceProperties = $sourceReflection->getProperties();
    foreach ($sourceProperties as $sourceProperty) {
        $sourceProperty->setAccessible(true);
        $name = $sourceProperty->getName();
        $value = $sourceProperty->getValue($sourceObject);
        if ($destinationReflection->hasProperty($name)) {
            $propDest = $destinationReflection->getProperty($name);
            $propDest->setAccessible(true);
            $propDest->setValue($destination,$value);
        } else {
            $destination->$name = $value;
        }
    }
    return $destination;
}

EXAMPLE:

class A 
{
  private $_x;   
}

class B 
{
  public $_x;   
}

$a = new A();
$b = new B();

$x = cast('A',$b);
$x = cast('B',$a);