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Zerotoprod\DataModel

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A DataModel provides a lightweight, non-invasive way to hydrate type-safe PHP objects recursively.

Why Use DataModel?

Features

Examples

How It Works

At its core, a DataModel uses reflection and PHP attributes to hydrate your objects. When you use the from() method, it recursively instantiates classes based on their type hints, resolving values according to the rules you define.

By using the #[Describe()] attribute, you can specify:

This approach allows you to centralize value resolution upstream of your business logic, drastically reducing downstream checks.

Better Than Defensive Programming

Traditional defensive programming requires you to scatter validation and type-checking throughout your code, leading to verbosity and potential oversights. With a DataModel, you define value resolution logic once, using the #[Describe()] attribute.

This method reduces boilerplate, minimizes the risk of missing checks, and results in cleaner, more readable code. It shifts the focus from defensive checks to declarative definitions, improving both development speed and code quality.

Showcase

Projects that use DataModels:

Installation

You can install the package via Composer:

composer require zero-to-prod/data-model

Additional Packages

Usage

Use the DataModel trait in a class.

class User
{
    use \Zerotoprod\DataModel\DataModel;

    public string $name;
    public int $age;
}

Hydrating from Data

Use the from method to instantiate your class, passing an associative array or object.

$User = User::from([
    'name' => 'John Doe',
    'age' => '30',
]);
echo $User->name; // 'John Doe'
echo $User->age; // 30

Recursive Hydration

A DataModel recursively instantiates classes based on their type declarations. If a property’s type hint is a class, its value is passed to that class’s from() method.

In this example, the address element is automatically converted into an Address object, allowing direct access to its properties: $User->address->city.

class Address
{
    use \Zerotoprod\DataModel\DataModel;

    public string $street;
    public string $city;
}

class User
{
    use \Zerotoprod\DataModel\DataModel;

    public string $username;
    public Address $address;
}

$User = User::from([
    'username' => 'John Doe',
    'address' => [
        'street' => '123 Main St',
        'city' => 'Hometown',
    ],
]);

echo $User->address->city; // Outputs: Hometown

Transformations

A DataModel provides a variety of ways to transform data before the value is assigned to a property.

The Describe attribute provides a declarative way describe how property values are resolved.

Describe Attribute

Resolve a value by adding the Describe attribute to a property.

The Describe attribute can accept these arguments.

#[\Zerotoprod\DataModel\Describe([
    'ignore' // ignores a property
    // Re-map a key to a property of a different name
    'from' => 'key', 
    // Runs before 'cast'
    'pre' => [MyClass::class, 'preHook']
    // Targets the static method: `MyClass::methodName()`
    'cast' => [MyClass::class, 'castMethod'], 
    // 'cast' => 'my_func', // alternately target a function
    // Runs after 'cast' passing the resolved value as `$value`
    'post' => [MyClass::class, 'postHook']
    'default' => 'value',
    'required', // Throws an exception if the element is missing
    'nullable', // sets the value to null if the element is missing
])]

Order of Precedence

There is an order of precedence when resolving a value for a property.

  1. Property-level Cast
  2. Method-level Cast
  3. Union Types
  4. Class-level Casts
  5. Types that have a concrete static method from().
  6. Native Types

Property-Level Cast

The using the Describe attribute directly on the property takes the highest precedence.

use Zerotoprod\DataModel\Describe;

class User
{
    use \Zerotoprod\DataModel\DataModel;

    #[Describe(['cast' => [self::class, 'firstName'], 'function' => 'strtoupper'])]
    public string $first_name;
    
    #[Describe(['cast' => 'uppercase'])]
    public string $last_name;

    #[Describe(['cast' => [self::class, 'fullName']])]
    public string $full_name;

    private static function firstName(mixed $value, array $context, ?\ReflectionAttribute $ReflectionAttribute, \ReflectionProperty $ReflectionProperty): string
    {
        return $ReflectionAttribute->getArguments()[0]['function']($value);
    }

    public static function fullName(mixed $value, array $context, ?\ReflectionAttribute $Attribute, \ReflectionProperty $Property): string
    {
        return "{$context['first_name']} {$context['last_name']}";
    }
}

function uppercase(mixed $value, array $context){
    return strtoupper($value);
}

$User = User::from([
    'first_name' => 'Jane',
    'last_name' => 'Doe',
]);

$User->first_name;  // 'JANE'
$User->last_name;   // 'DOE'
$User->full_name;   // 'Jane Doe'

Life-Cycle Hooks

You can run methods before and after a value is resolved.

pre Hook

You can use pre to run a void method before the value is resolved.

use Zerotoprod\DataModel\Describe;

class BaseClass
{
    use \Zerotoprod\DataModel\DataModel;

    #[Describe(['pre' => [self::class, 'pre'], 'message' => 'Value too large.'])]
    public int $int;

    public static function pre(mixed $value, array $context, ?\ReflectionAttribute $Attribute, \ReflectionProperty $Property): void
    {
        if ($value > 10) {
            throw new \RuntimeException($Attribute->getArguments()[0]['message']);
        }
    }
}

post Hook

You can use post to run a void method after the value is resolved.

use Zerotoprod\DataModel\Describe;

class BaseClass
{
    use \Zerotoprod\DataModel\DataModel;

    public const int = 'int';

    #[Describe(['post' => [self::class, 'post'], 'message' => 'Value too large.'])]
    public int $int;

    public static function post(mixed $value, array $context, ?\ReflectionAttribute $Attribute, \ReflectionProperty $Property): void
    {
        if ($value > 10) {
            throw new \RuntimeException($value.$Attribute->getArguments()[0]['message']);
        }
    }
}

Method-level Cast

Use the Describe attribute to resolve values with class methods. Methods receive $value and $context as parameters.

use Zerotoprod\DataModel\Describe;

class User
{
    use \Zerotoprod\DataModel\DataModel;

    public string $first_name;
    public string $last_name;
    public string $fullName;

    #[Describe('last_name')]
    public function lastName(mixed $value, array $context, ?\ReflectionAttribute $Attribute, \ReflectionProperty $Property): string
    {
        return strtoupper($value);
    }

    #[Describe('fullName')]
    public function fullName(mixed $value, array $context, ?\ReflectionAttribute $Attribute, \ReflectionProperty $Property): string
    {
        return "{$context['first_name']} {$context['last_name']}";
    }
}

$User = User::from([
    'first_name' => 'Jane',
    'last_name' => 'Doe',
]);

$User->first_name;  // 'Jane'
$User->last_name;   // 'DOE'
$User->fullName;    // 'Jane Doe'

Union Types

A value passed to property with a union type is directly assigned to the property. If you wish to resolve the value in a specific way, use a class method.

Class-Level Cast

You can define how to resolve different types at the class level.

use Zerotoprod\DataModel\Describe;

function uppercase(mixed $value, array $context){
    return strtoupper($value);
}

#[Describe([
    'cast' => [
        'string' => 'uppercase',
        \DateTimeImmutable::class => [self::class, 'toDateTimeImmutable'],
    ]
])]
class User
{
    use \Zerotoprod\DataModel\DataModel;

    public string $first_name;
    public DateTimeImmutable $registered;

    public static function toDateTimeImmutable(mixed $value, array $context): DateTimeImmutable
    {
        return new DateTimeImmutable($value);
    }
}

$User = User::from([
    'first_name' => 'Jane',
    'registered' => '2015-10-04 17:24:43.000000',
]);

$User->first_name;              // 'JANE'
$User->registered->format('l'); // 'Sunday'

Required Properties

Enforce that certain properties are required using the Describe attribute:

use Zerotoprod\DataModel\Describe;

class User
{
    use \Zerotoprod\DataModel\DataModel;

    #[Describe(['required' => true])]
    public string $username;

    public string $email;
}

User::from(['email' => 'john@example.com']);
// Throws PropertyRequiredException exception: Property: username is required

Default Values

You can set a default value for a property like this:

use Zerotoprod\DataModel\Describe;

class User
{
    use \Zerotoprod\DataModel\DataModel;

    #[Describe(['default' => 'N/A'])]
    public string $username;
}

$User = User::from();

echo $User->username // 'N/A'

Limitations

Note that using null as a default will not work: #[Describe(['default' => null])].

Use #[Describe(['nullable' => true])] to set a null value.

Nullable Missing Values

Set missing values to null by setting ['nullable' => true]. This can be placed at the class or property level.

This prevents an Error when attempting to assess a property that has not been initialized.

Error: Typed property User::$age must not be accessed before initialization

use Zerotoprod\DataModel\Describe;

#[Describe(['nullable' => true])]
class User
{
    use \Zerotoprod\DataModel\DataModel;

    public ?string $name;
    
    #[Describe(['nullable' => true])]
    public ?int $age;
}

$User = User::from();

echo $User->name; // null
echo $User->age;  // null

Limitations

Note that using null as a default will not work: #[Describe(['default' => null])].

Use #[Describe(['nullable' => true])] to set a null value.

Re-Mapping

You can map a key to a property of a different name like this:

use Zerotoprod\DataModel\Describe;

class User
{
    use \Zerotoprod\DataModel\DataModel;

    #[Describe(['from' => 'firstName'])]
    public string $first_name;
}

$User = User::from([
    'firstName' => 'John',
]);

echo $User->first_name; // John

Ignoring Properties

You can ignore a property like this:

use Zerotoprod\DataModel\Describe;

class User
{
    use \Zerotoprod\DataModel\DataModel;

    public string $name;

    #[Describe(['ignore' => true])]
    public int $age;
}
use Zerotoprod\DataModel\Describe;

class User
{
    use \Zerotoprod\DataModel\DataModel;

    #[Describe(['from' => 'firstName'])]
    public string $first_name;
}

$User = User::from([
    'name' => 'John Doe',
    'age' => '30',
]);

isset($User->age); // false

Using the Constructor

You can use the constructor to instantiate a DataModel like this:

class User
{
    use \Zerotoprod\DataModel\DataModel;

    public string $name;

    public function __construct(array $data = [])
    {
        self::from($data, $this);
    }
}

$User = new User([
    'name' => 'Jane Doe',
]);

echo $User->name; // 'Jane Doe'; 

Examples

Array of DataModels

This examples uses the DataModelHelper.

composer require zero-to-prod/data-model-helper
use Zerotoprod\DataModel\Describe;

class User
{
    use \Zerotoprod\DataModel\DataModel;
    use \Zerotoprod\DataModelHelper\DataModelHelper;
    
    /** @var Alias[] $Aliases */
    #[Describe([
        'cast' => [self::class, 'mapOf'],   // Use the mapOf helper method
        'type' => Alias::class,             // Target type for each item
    ])]
    public array $Aliases;
}

class Alias
{
    use \Zerotoprod\DataModel\DataModel;
    
    public string $name;
}

$User = User::from([
    'Aliases' => [
        ['name' => 'John Doe'],
        ['name' => 'John Smith'],
    ]
]);

echo $User->Aliases[0]->name; // Outputs: John Doe
echo $User->Aliases[1]->name; // Outputs: John Smith

Collection of DataModels

This examples uses the DataModelHelper and Laravel Collections.

composer require zero-to-prod/data-model-helper
composer require illuminate/collections
use Zerotoprod\DataModel\Describe;

class User
{
    use \Zerotoprod\DataModel\DataModel;
    use \Zerotoprod\DataModelHelper\DataModelHelper;
    
    /** @var Collection<int, Alias> $Aliases */
    #[Describe([
        'cast' => [self::class, 'mapOf'],
        'type' => Alias::class,
    ])]
    public \Illuminate\Support\Collection $Aliases;
}

class Alias
{
    use \Zerotoprod\DataModel\DataModel;
    
    public string $name;
}

$User = User::from([
    'Aliases' => [
        ['name' => 'John Doe'],
        ['name' => 'John Smith'],
    ]
]);

echo $User->Aliases->first()->name; // Outputs: John Doe

Laravel Validation

By leveraging the pre life-cycle hook, you run a validator before a value is resolved.

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Validator;
use Zerotoprod\DataModel\Describe;

readonly class FullName
{
    use \Zerotoprod\DataModel\DataModel;

    #[Describe([
        'pre' => [self::class, 'validate'],
        'rule' => 'min:2'
    ])]
    public string $first_name;

    public static function validate(mixed $value, array $context, ?\ReflectionAttribute $Attribute): void
    {
        $validator = Validator::make(['value' => $value], ['value' => $Attribute?->getArguments()[0]['rule']]);
        if ($validator->fails()) {
            throw new \RuntimeException($validator->errors()->toJson());
        }
    }
}

Testing

./vendor/bin/phpunit