Serialization

Every BaseData instance can be serialized to array, JSON, or string.

toArray()

Returns all non-hidden properties as an associative array. Casts are applied in the set() direction (e.g., DateTime → formatted string).

$user = UserData::from(['name' => 'Alice', 'email' => 'alice@example.com']);

$user->toArray();
// ['name' => 'Alice', 'email' => 'alice@example.com', 'phone' => null]

toJson() / __toString()

$user->toJson();   // '{"name":"Alice","email":"alice@example.com","phone":null}'
(string) $user;    // same
json_encode($user); // works via JsonSerializable

Partial Output

$user->only('name', 'email'); // ['name' => 'Alice', 'email' => 'alice@example.com']
$user->except('phone');       // ['name' => 'Alice', 'email' => 'alice@example.com']

Nested DTOs in Output

Nested DTO instances are recursively serialized:

$profile->toArray();
// [
//   'user'    => ['name' => 'Alice', 'email' => 'alice@example.com'],
//   'address' => ['street' => '123 Main St', 'city' => 'Kyiv'],
// ]

Hidden Fields

Use #[Hidden] to exclude a property from all output:

class AuthData extends BaseData
{
    public function __construct(
        public readonly string $username,
        #[Hidden]
        public readonly string $passwordHash,
    ) {}
}

AuthData::from([...])->toArray(); // ['username' => 'alice']

Omitting Null Values

Use #[IgnoreIfNull] to skip a property when its value is null:

class ArticleData extends BaseData
{
    public function __construct(
        public readonly string  $title,
        #[IgnoreIfNull]
        public readonly ?string $subtitle = null,
    ) {}
}

ArticleData::from(['title' => 'Hello'])->toArray();
// ['title' => 'Hello']  — subtitle omitted

Cast Serialization

Casts transform values in both directions. On toArray(), the set() method of the cast is called:

Cast	Stored value	toArray() output
DateTimeCast('Y-m-d')	DateTime object	'2025-06-15'
BooleanCast	true	true
JsonCast	['key' => 'val']	'{"key":"val"}'
EncryptedCast('key')	plaintext string	AES ciphertext

See Casts → for the full reference.