Quick Start

1. Define a DTO

Extend BaseData and declare constructor properties:

use StdOut\SimpleDataObjects\BaseData;

class UserData extends BaseData
{
    public function __construct(
        public readonly string $name,
        public readonly string $email,
        public readonly ?string $phone = null,
    ) {}
}

2. Hydrate

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

$user->name;  // 'Alice'
$user->phone; // null

3. Serialize

$user->toArray(); // ['name' => 'Alice', 'email' => 'alice@example.com', 'phone' => null]
$user->toJson();  // '{"name":"Alice","email":"alice@example.com","phone":null}'
$user->only('name');          // ['name' => 'Alice']
$user->except('phone');       // ['name' => 'Alice', 'email' => 'alice@example.com']

4. Add Validation

use StdOut\SimpleDataObjects\Attributes\Rules;

class UserData extends BaseData
{
    public function __construct(
        #[Rules(['required', 'string', 'max:100'])]
        public readonly string $name,

        #[Rules(['required', 'email:rfc'])]
        public readonly string $email,

        #[Rules(['nullable', 'string'])]
        public readonly ?string $phone = null,
    ) {}
}

// Throws Illuminate\Validation\ValidationException on failure
$user = UserData::fromValidated($request->all());

5. Add Type Casting

use StdOut\SimpleDataObjects\Attributes\Cast;
use StdOut\SimpleDataObjects\Casts\DateTimeCast;
use StdOut\SimpleDataObjects\Casts\BooleanCast;

class EventData extends BaseData
{
    public function __construct(
        public readonly string $name,

        #[Cast(new DateTimeCast('Y-m-d'))]
        public readonly DateTime $startsAt,

        #[Cast(new BooleanCast)]
        public readonly bool $isPublic = false,
    ) {}
}

$event = EventData::from([
    'name'     => 'PHP Conference',
    'startsAt' => '2025-06-15',
    'isPublic' => 'yes',
]);

$event->startsAt;           // DateTime object
$event->isPublic;           // true
$event->toArray()['startsAt']; // '2025-06-15'

6. Nested DTOs

class AddressData extends BaseData
{
    public function __construct(
        public readonly string $street,
        public readonly string $city,
    ) {}
}

class ProfileData extends BaseData
{
    public function __construct(
        public readonly UserData $user,
        public readonly AddressData $address,
    ) {}
}

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

$profile->user->name;       // 'Alice'
$profile->address->city;    // 'Kyiv'

7. Immutable Updates

$updated = $user->with(email: 'newemail@example.com');

$user->email;    // 'alice@example.com' — original unchanged
$updated->email; // 'newemail@example.com'

What's Next?

• Hydration → — all input formats, enums, nested DTOs
• Cast System → — built-in and custom casts
• Validation → — full Laravel rule support
• Laravel Integration → — fromRequest(), fromModel(), toResponse()