README.md
1# DeepCopy
2
3DeepCopy helps you create deep copies (clones) of your objects. It is designed to handle cycles in the association graph.
4
5[![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/myclabs/DeepCopy.png?branch=1.x)](https://travis-ci.org/myclabs/DeepCopy)
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9
10
11**You are browsing the 1.x version, this version is in maintenance mode only. Please check the new
12[2.x](https://github.com/myclabs/DeepCopy/tree/2.x) version.**
13
14
15## Table of Contents
16
171. [How](#how)
181. [Why](#why)
19 1. [Using simply `clone`](#using-simply-clone)
20 1. [Overridding `__clone()`](#overridding-__clone)
21 1. [With `DeepCopy`](#with-deepcopy)
221. [How it works](#how-it-works)
231. [Going further](#going-further)
24 1. [Matchers](#matchers)
25 1. [Property name](#property-name)
26 1. [Specific property](#specific-property)
27 1. [Type](#type)
28 1. [Filters](#filters)
29 1. [`SetNullFilter`](#setnullfilter-filter)
30 1. [`KeepFilter`](#keepfilter-filter)
31 1. [`DoctrineCollectionFilter`](#doctrinecollectionfilter-filter)
32 1. [`DoctrineEmptyCollectionFilter`](#doctrineemptycollectionfilter-filter)
33 1. [`DoctrineProxyFilter`](#doctrineproxyfilter-filter)
34 1. [`ReplaceFilter`](#replacefilter-type-filter)
35 1. [`ShallowCopyFilter`](#shallowcopyfilter-type-filter)
361. [Edge cases](#edge-cases)
371. [Contributing](#contributing)
38 1. [Tests](#tests)
39
40
41## How?
42
43Install with Composer:
44
45```json
46composer require myclabs/deep-copy
47```
48
49Use simply:
50
51```php
52use DeepCopy\DeepCopy;
53
54$copier = new DeepCopy();
55$myCopy = $copier->copy($myObject);
56```
57
58
59## Why?
60
61- How do you create copies of your objects?
62
63```php
64$myCopy = clone $myObject;
65```
66
67- How do you create **deep** copies of your objects (i.e. copying also all the objects referenced in the properties)?
68
69You use [`__clone()`](http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.oop5.cloning.php#object.clone) and implement the behavior
70yourself.
71
72- But how do you handle **cycles** in the association graph?
73
74Now you're in for a big mess :(
75
76![association graph](doc/graph.png)
77
78
79### Using simply `clone`
80
81![Using clone](doc/clone.png)
82
83
84### Overridding `__clone()`
85
86![Overridding __clone](doc/deep-clone.png)
87
88
89### With `DeepCopy`
90
91![With DeepCopy](doc/deep-copy.png)
92
93
94## How it works
95
96DeepCopy recursively traverses all the object's properties and clones them. To avoid cloning the same object twice it
97keeps a hash map of all instances and thus preserves the object graph.
98
99To use it:
100
101```php
102use function DeepCopy\deep_copy;
103
104$copy = deep_copy($var);
105```
106
107Alternatively, you can create your own `DeepCopy` instance to configure it differently for example:
108
109```php
110use DeepCopy\DeepCopy;
111
112$copier = new DeepCopy(true);
113
114$copy = $copier->copy($var);
115```
116
117You may want to roll your own deep copy function:
118
119```php
120namespace Acme;
121
122use DeepCopy\DeepCopy;
123
124function deep_copy($var)
125{
126 static $copier = null;
127
128 if (null === $copier) {
129 $copier = new DeepCopy(true);
130 }
131
132 return $copier->copy($var);
133}
134```
135
136
137## Going further
138
139You can add filters to customize the copy process.
140
141The method to add a filter is `DeepCopy\DeepCopy::addFilter($filter, $matcher)`,
142with `$filter` implementing `DeepCopy\Filter\Filter`
143and `$matcher` implementing `DeepCopy\Matcher\Matcher`.
144
145We provide some generic filters and matchers.
146
147
148### Matchers
149
150 - `DeepCopy\Matcher` applies on a object attribute.
151 - `DeepCopy\TypeMatcher` applies on any element found in graph, including array elements.
152
153
154#### Property name
155
156The `PropertyNameMatcher` will match a property by its name:
157
158```php
159use DeepCopy\Matcher\PropertyNameMatcher;
160
161// Will apply a filter to any property of any objects named "id"
162$matcher = new PropertyNameMatcher('id');
163```
164
165
166#### Specific property
167
168The `PropertyMatcher` will match a specific property of a specific class:
169
170```php
171use DeepCopy\Matcher\PropertyMatcher;
172
173// Will apply a filter to the property "id" of any objects of the class "MyClass"
174$matcher = new PropertyMatcher('MyClass', 'id');
175```
176
177
178#### Type
179
180The `TypeMatcher` will match any element by its type (instance of a class or any value that could be parameter of
181[gettype()](http://php.net/manual/en/function.gettype.php) function):
182
183```php
184use DeepCopy\TypeMatcher\TypeMatcher;
185
186// Will apply a filter to any object that is an instance of Doctrine\Common\Collections\Collection
187$matcher = new TypeMatcher('Doctrine\Common\Collections\Collection');
188```
189
190
191### Filters
192
193- `DeepCopy\Filter` applies a transformation to the object attribute matched by `DeepCopy\Matcher`
194- `DeepCopy\TypeFilter` applies a transformation to any element matched by `DeepCopy\TypeMatcher`
195
196
197#### `SetNullFilter` (filter)
198
199Let's say for example that you are copying a database record (or a Doctrine entity), so you want the copy not to have
200any ID:
201
202```php
203use DeepCopy\DeepCopy;
204use DeepCopy\Filter\SetNullFilter;
205use DeepCopy\Matcher\PropertyNameMatcher;
206
207$object = MyClass::load(123);
208echo $object->id; // 123
209
210$copier = new DeepCopy();
211$copier->addFilter(new SetNullFilter(), new PropertyNameMatcher('id'));
212
213$copy = $copier->copy($object);
214
215echo $copy->id; // null
216```
217
218
219#### `KeepFilter` (filter)
220
221If you want a property to remain untouched (for example, an association to an object):
222
223```php
224use DeepCopy\DeepCopy;
225use DeepCopy\Filter\KeepFilter;
226use DeepCopy\Matcher\PropertyMatcher;
227
228$copier = new DeepCopy();
229$copier->addFilter(new KeepFilter(), new PropertyMatcher('MyClass', 'category'));
230
231$copy = $copier->copy($object);
232// $copy->category has not been touched
233```
234
235
236#### `DoctrineCollectionFilter` (filter)
237
238If you use Doctrine and want to copy an entity, you will need to use the `DoctrineCollectionFilter`:
239
240```php
241use DeepCopy\DeepCopy;
242use DeepCopy\Filter\Doctrine\DoctrineCollectionFilter;
243use DeepCopy\Matcher\PropertyTypeMatcher;
244
245$copier = new DeepCopy();
246$copier->addFilter(new DoctrineCollectionFilter(), new PropertyTypeMatcher('Doctrine\Common\Collections\Collection'));
247
248$copy = $copier->copy($object);
249```
250
251
252#### `DoctrineEmptyCollectionFilter` (filter)
253
254If you use Doctrine and want to copy an entity who contains a `Collection` that you want to be reset, you can use the
255`DoctrineEmptyCollectionFilter`
256
257```php
258use DeepCopy\DeepCopy;
259use DeepCopy\Filter\Doctrine\DoctrineEmptyCollectionFilter;
260use DeepCopy\Matcher\PropertyMatcher;
261
262$copier = new DeepCopy();
263$copier->addFilter(new DoctrineEmptyCollectionFilter(), new PropertyMatcher('MyClass', 'myProperty'));
264
265$copy = $copier->copy($object);
266
267// $copy->myProperty will return an empty collection
268```
269
270
271#### `DoctrineProxyFilter` (filter)
272
273If you use Doctrine and use cloning on lazy loaded entities, you might encounter errors mentioning missing fields on a
274Doctrine proxy class (...\\\_\_CG\_\_\Proxy).
275You can use the `DoctrineProxyFilter` to load the actual entity behind the Doctrine proxy class.
276**Make sure, though, to put this as one of your very first filters in the filter chain so that the entity is loaded
277before other filters are applied!**
278
279```php
280use DeepCopy\DeepCopy;
281use DeepCopy\Filter\Doctrine\DoctrineProxyFilter;
282use DeepCopy\Matcher\Doctrine\DoctrineProxyMatcher;
283
284$copier = new DeepCopy();
285$copier->addFilter(new DoctrineProxyFilter(), new DoctrineProxyMatcher());
286
287$copy = $copier->copy($object);
288
289// $copy should now contain a clone of all entities, including those that were not yet fully loaded.
290```
291
292
293#### `ReplaceFilter` (type filter)
294
2951. If you want to replace the value of a property:
296
297```php
298use DeepCopy\DeepCopy;
299use DeepCopy\Filter\ReplaceFilter;
300use DeepCopy\Matcher\PropertyMatcher;
301
302$copier = new DeepCopy();
303$callback = function ($currentValue) {
304 return $currentValue . ' (copy)'
305};
306$copier->addFilter(new ReplaceFilter($callback), new PropertyMatcher('MyClass', 'title'));
307
308$copy = $copier->copy($object);
309
310// $copy->title will contain the data returned by the callback, e.g. 'The title (copy)'
311```
312
3132. If you want to replace whole element:
314
315```php
316use DeepCopy\DeepCopy;
317use DeepCopy\TypeFilter\ReplaceFilter;
318use DeepCopy\TypeMatcher\TypeMatcher;
319
320$copier = new DeepCopy();
321$callback = function (MyClass $myClass) {
322 return get_class($myClass);
323};
324$copier->addTypeFilter(new ReplaceFilter($callback), new TypeMatcher('MyClass'));
325
326$copy = $copier->copy([new MyClass, 'some string', new MyClass]);
327
328// $copy will contain ['MyClass', 'some string', 'MyClass']
329```
330
331
332The `$callback` parameter of the `ReplaceFilter` constructor accepts any PHP callable.
333
334
335#### `ShallowCopyFilter` (type filter)
336
337Stop *DeepCopy* from recursively copying element, using standard `clone` instead:
338
339```php
340use DeepCopy\DeepCopy;
341use DeepCopy\TypeFilter\ShallowCopyFilter;
342use DeepCopy\TypeMatcher\TypeMatcher;
343use Mockery as m;
344
345$this->deepCopy = new DeepCopy();
346$this->deepCopy->addTypeFilter(
347 new ShallowCopyFilter,
348 new TypeMatcher(m\MockInterface::class)
349);
350
351$myServiceWithMocks = new MyService(m::mock(MyDependency1::class), m::mock(MyDependency2::class));
352// All mocks will be just cloned, not deep copied
353```
354
355
356## Edge cases
357
358The following structures cannot be deep-copied with PHP Reflection. As a result they are shallow cloned and filters are
359not applied. There is two ways for you to handle them:
360
361- Implement your own `__clone()` method
362- Use a filter with a type matcher
363
364
365## Contributing
366
367DeepCopy is distributed under the MIT license.
368
369
370### Tests
371
372Running the tests is simple:
373
374```php
375vendor/bin/phpunit
376```
377