From data to array | laravel-data | Spatie SPATIE Laravel Data =============== spatie.be/open-source [Docs](https://spatie.be/docs) [Laravel-data](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4) As-a-resource From data to array Version v4 v3 v2 v1 Other versions for crawler [v4](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4) [v3](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v3) [v2](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v2) [v1](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v1) From data to array - [ Introduction ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/introduction) - [ Support us ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/support-us) - [ Requirements ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/requirements) - [ Installation & setup ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/installation-setup) - [ Third party packages ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/third-party-packages) - [ Questions and issues ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/questions-issues) - [ Changelog ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/changelog) - [ About us ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/about-us) Getting started --------------- - [ Quickstart ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/getting-started/quickstart) As a DTO -------- - [ Creating a data object ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/as-a-data-transfer-object/creating-a-data-object) - [ Nesting ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/as-a-data-transfer-object/nesting) - [ Collections ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/as-a-data-transfer-object/collections) - [ Abstract Data ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/as-a-data-transfer-object/abstract-data) - [ Casts ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/as-a-data-transfer-object/casts) - [ Optional properties ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/as-a-data-transfer-object/optional-properties) - [ Mapping property names ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/as-a-data-transfer-object/mapping-property-names) - [ Default values ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/as-a-data-transfer-object/defaults) - [ Computed values ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/as-a-data-transfer-object/computed) - [ From a request ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/as-a-data-transfer-object/request-to-data-object) - [ From a model ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/as-a-data-transfer-object/model-to-data-object) - [ Injecting property values ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/as-a-data-transfer-object/injecting-property-values) - [ Factories ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/as-a-data-transfer-object/factories) Validation ---------- - [ Introduction ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/validation/introduction) - [ Auto rule inferring ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/validation/auto-rule-inferring) - [ Using validation attributes ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/validation/using-validation-attributes) - [ Manual rules ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/validation/manual-rules) - [ Working with the validator ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/validation/working-with-the-validator) - [ Nesting Data ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/validation/nesting-data) - [ Skipping validation ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/validation/skipping-validation) As a resource ------------- - [ From data to array ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/as-a-resource/from-data-to-array) - [ From data to resource ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/as-a-resource/from-data-to-resource) - [ Mapping property names ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/as-a-resource/mapping-property-names) - [ Appending properties ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/as-a-resource/appending-properties) - [ Wrapping ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/as-a-resource/wrapping) - [ Including and excluding properties ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/as-a-resource/lazy-properties) - [ Transforming data ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/as-a-resource/transformers) Advanced usage -------------- - [ Eloquent casting ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/advanced-usage/eloquent-casting) - [ Transforming to TypeScript ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/advanced-usage/typescript) - [ Working with dates ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/advanced-usage/working-with-dates) - [ Normalizers ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/advanced-usage/normalizers) - [ Pipeline ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/advanced-usage/pipeline) - [ Creating a cast ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/advanced-usage/creating-a-cast) - [ Creating a transformer ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/advanced-usage/creating-a-transformer) - [ Creating a rule inferrer ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/advanced-usage/creating-a-rule-inferrer) - [ Use with Inertia ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/advanced-usage/use-with-inertia) - [ Use with Livewire ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/advanced-usage/use-with-livewire) - [ Internal structures ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/advanced-usage/internal-structures) - [ Mapping rules ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/advanced-usage/mapping-rules) - [ Validation attributes ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/advanced-usage/validation-attributes) - [ Get data from a class quickly ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/advanced-usage/get-data-from-a-class-quickly) - [ Performance ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/advanced-usage/performance) - [ Commands ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/advanced-usage/commands) - [ Traits and interfaces ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/advanced-usage/traits-and-interfaces) - [ In Packages ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/advanced-usage/in-packages) - [ Available property mappers ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-data/v4/advanced-usage/available-property-mappers) From data to array ================== ### On this page 1. [ Using collections ](#content-using-collections) 2. [ Nesting ](#content-nesting) A data object can automatically be transformed into an array as such: ``` SongData::from(Song::first())->toArray(); ``` Which will output the following array: ``` [ 'name' => 'Never gonna give you up', 'artist' => 'Rick Astley' ] ``` By default, calling `toArray` on a data object will recursively transform all properties to an array. This means that nested data objects and collections of data objects will also be transformed to arrays. Other complex types like `Carbon`, `DateTime`, `Enums`, etc... will be transformed into a string. We'll see in the [transformers](/docs/laravel-data/v4/as-a-resource/transformers) section how to configure and customize this behavior. If you only want to transform a data object to an array without transforming the properties, you can call the `all` method: ``` SongData::from(Song::first())->all(); ``` You can also manually transform a data object to JSON: ``` SongData::from(Song::first())->toJson(); ``` Using collections ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here's how to create a collection of data objects: ``` SongData::collect(Song::all()); ``` A collection can be transformed to array: ``` SongData::collect(Song::all())->toArray(); ``` Which will output the following array: ``` [ [ "name": "Never Gonna Give You Up", "artist": "Rick Astley" ], [ "name": "Giving Up on Love", "artist": "Rick Astley" ] ] ``` Nesting ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- It is possible to nest data objects. ``` class UserData extends Data { public function __construct( public string $title, public string $email, public SongData $favorite_song, ) { } public static function fromModel(User $user): self { return new self( $user->title, $user->email, SongData::from($user->favorite_song) ); } } ``` When transformed to an array, this will look like the following: ``` [ "name": "Ruben", "email": "ruben@spatie.be", "favorite_song": [ "name" : "Never Gonna Give You Up", "artist" : "Rick Astley" ] ] ``` You can also nest a collection of data objects: ``` class AlbumData extends Data { /** * @param Collection $songs */ public function __construct( public string $title, public array $songs, ) { } public static function fromModel(Album $album): self { return new self( $album->title, SongData::collect($album->songs) ); } } ``` As always, remember to type collections of data objects by annotation or the `DataCollectionOf` attribute, this is essential to transform these collections correctly. 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