note 112823 added to function.unserialize

In the Classes and Objects docs, there is this: In order to be able to unserialize() an object, the class of that object needs to be defined. Prior to PHP 5.3, this was not an issue. But after PHP 5.3 an object made by SimpleXML_Load_String() cannot be serialized. An attempt to do so will result in a run-time failure, throwing an exception. If you store such an object in $_SESSION, you will get a post-execution error that says this: Fatal error: Uncaught exception 'Exception' with message 'Serialization of 'SimpleXMLElement' is not allowed' in [no active file]:0 Stack trace: #0 {main} thrown in [no active file] on line 0 The entire contents of the session will be lost. Hope this saves someone some time! <?php // RAY_temp_ser.php error_reporting(E_ALL); session_start(); var_dump($_SESSION); $_SESSION['hello'] = 'World'; var_dump($_SESSION); // AN XML STRING FOR TEST DATA $xml = '<?xml version="1.0"?> <families> <parent> <child index="1" value="Category 1">Child One</child> </parent> </families>'; // MAKE AN OBJECT (GIVES SimpleXMLElement) $obj = SimpleXML_Load_String($xml); // STORE THE OBJECT IN THE SESSION $_SESSION['obj'] = $obj; ---- Server IP: 192.41.42.26 Probable Submitter: 98.169.50.31 ---- Manual Page -- http://php.net/manual/en/function.unserialize.php Edit -- https://master.php.net/note/edit/112823 Del: integrated -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/112823/integrated Del: useless -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/112823/useless Del: bad code -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/112823/bad+code Del: spam -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/112823/spam Del: non-english -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/112823/non-english Del: in docs -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/112823/in+docs Del: other reasons-- https://master.php.net/note/delete/112823 Reject -- https://master.php.net/note/reject/112823 Search -- https://master.php.net/manage/user-notes.php