Converting object to associative array returns null

json_encode

converts your object according to its visible properties.

Since it Tinyrocket\Magento\Objects\MagentoObjectCollection

$collection

is a protected property, its value is not read json_encode

.

I have two solutions for this problem, one of them requires modifying the Magento source code, so I would not recommend it as it could create errors or interrupt every time the CMS is updated.

---

The first solution is used Reflection

, so you need PHP 5, which shouldn't be a problem since Magento needs PHP 5.4 .

The following function goes through the object \Tinyrocket\Magento\Objects\MagentoObjectCollection

to read all the properties and returns an array.

function magentoObjectCollectionToArray(\Tinyrocket\Magento\Objects\MagentoObjectCollection $object)
{
    // The basic structure of your array.
    $array = array(
        'collection' => array()
    );

    // Since $collection is a protected property, we need to reflect it to read the value.
    $collection_reflection = new \ReflectionProperty('\Tinyrocket\Magento\Objects\MagentoObjectCollection', 'collection');
    // This method allows you to read protected and private properties for the current ReflectionProperty object.
    $collection_reflection->setAccessible(true);

    // Now we need to loop through all objects...
    foreach ($collection_reflection->getValue($object) as $property => $value)
    {
        // Two cases : either a \Tinyrocket\Magento\Objects\MagentoObject object, or the $count property.
        if ($value instanceof \Tinyrocket\Magento\Objects\MagentoObject)
        {
            // Same here, since $data is also a protected property, we need to reflect it.
            $data_reflection = new \ReflectionProperty('\Tinyrocket\Magento\Objects\MagentoObject', 'data');
            $data_reflection->setAccessible(true);

            $array['collection'][$property] = array(
                'data' => $data_reflection->getValue($value)
            );
        }
        else
        {
            // We don't forget the $count property.
            $array['collection'][$property] = $value;
        }
    }

    // And you have your array without using JSON.
    return $array;
}

      

        
        
        
      

    

PHP documentation links:

• ReflectionProperty::__construct
  
  
• ReflectionProperty::setAccessible
  
  
• ReflectionProperty::getValue
  
  

---

The second solution uses JsonSerializable

, so you need PHP 5.4 and that shouldn't be a problem either.

Once the method jsonSerialize

is implemented in a class that implements JsonSerializable, the json_encode

return value will be encoded jsonSerialize

.

So, you can change the Magento core and make the classes \Tinyrocket\Magento\Objects\MagentoObjectCollection

and \Tinyrocket\Magento\Objects\MagentoObject

to implement \JsonSerializable

and add this method jsonSerialize

in the source code:

class XXX implements \JsonSerializable
{
    public function JsonSerialize()
    {
        // Returns all variables. Since we're in the object context, we've access to all of them.
        return get_object_vars($this);
    }
}

      

        
        
        
      

    

Then you get your array by calling json_encode()

/ json_decode()

as you did:

json_decode(json_encode($result), true)

      

        
        
        
      

    

While this solution may help solve your problem, I would not recommend it as it requires changes to the Magento core, which may break other modules and no longer work after an upgrade. Instead, you should create your own plugin and use the first solution that works best.

---

Both solutions return this array:

array (
  'collection' => 
  array (
    0 => 
    array (
      'data' => 
      array (
        'product_id' => '9',
        'sku' => 'Tilapia',
        'name' => 'Tilapia',
        'set' => '4',
        'type' => 'simple',
        'category_ids' => 
        array (
          0 => '2',
          1 => '4',
        ),
        'website_ids' => 
        array (
          0 => '1',
        ),
      ),
    ),
    1 => 
    array (
      'data' => 
      array (
        'product_id' => '10',
        'sku' => 'Deshi Rui',
        'name' => 'Deshi Rui',
        'set' => '4',
        'type' => 'simple',
        'category_ids' => 
        array (
          0 => '2',
          1 => '4',
        ),
        'website_ids' => 
        array (
          0 => '1',
        ),
      ),
    ),
    'count' => 2,
  ),
)