serialize()

serialize() — Generates a storable representation of a value.

serialize() — This is useful for storing or passing PHP values around without losing their type and structure.

To make the serialized string into a PHP value again, use unserialize.

Inputs: value: The value to be serialized. serialize handles all types, except the resource-type and some objects (see note below). You can even serialize arrays that contain references to itself. Circular references inside the array/object you are serializing will also be stored. Any other reference will be lost.

Returns: Returns a string containing a byte-stream representation of value that can be stored anywhere. Note that this is a binary string which may include null bytes, and needs to be stored and handled as such. For example, serialize output should generally be stored in a BLOB field in a database, rather than a CHAR or TEXT field.