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PHP 8.2 - implementing Object Serialization and Database Storage for User Sessions

๐Ÿ‘€ Views: 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ Answers: 1 ๐Ÿ“… Created: 2025-06-16
php session serialization

I'm reviewing some code and I'm stuck on something that should probably be simple. Quick question that's been bugging me - I'm working with a question with session management in PHP 8.2 when storing user session data in a database. My current implementation uses a custom session handler, and I serialize objects before saving them. However, when I attempt to retrieve the session data, I encounter a `Serialization of 'Closure' is not allowed` behavior. Hereโ€™s a snippet of the code I've implemented for the session handler: ```php class SessionHandler implements SessionHandlerInterface { public function open($savePath, $sessionName) { // Initialization code here return true; } public function close() { // Cleanup code here return true; } public function read($sessionId) { // Retrieve session data from the database // Example of session data retrieval $sessionData = $this->getSessionFromDatabase($sessionId); return $sessionData ? $sessionData : ''; } public function write($sessionId, $data) { // Save session data to the database // Serializing the data to store it $serializedData = serialize($data); $this->saveSessionToDatabase($sessionId, $serializedData); } public function destroy($sessionId) { // Delete session from the database } public function gc($maxlifetime) { // Garbage collection code here } } ``` In addition to the session handler, Iโ€™m also using an object with closures, which seems to be causing the serialization behavior. Hereโ€™s how I set the session data: ```php class User { private $name; private $callback; public function __construct($name) { $this->name = $name; $this->callback = function() { return 'Hello ' . $this->name; }; } } session_start(); $user = new User('John Doe'); $_SESSION['user'] = $user; ``` When I run this, I get the `Serialization of 'Closure' is not allowed` behavior as mentioned. Iโ€™ve tried using `serialize()` on the `User` object directly without the closure, and that works fine, but I need to retain the callback functionality. Is there a recommended approach or best practice for handling this situation? How can I serialize objects with closures or avoid this behavior while keeping the functionality intact? I appreciate any insights! What's the best practice here?