Laravel collection of object results in associative array instead of object?

Question

When I wrap a regular object into a collection, the result is an associative array.

I would like to keep using it as an object.

$obj = (object) ['count'=>1, 'now'=>Carbon::now()];
dump($obj); // $obj->count = 1, $obj->now = Carbon {...}

$collection = collect($obj);
dump($collection); // unwanted: $collection['count'] = 1, $collection['now'] = Carbon {...}

In a similar question the offered solution is to json_encode/json_decode the $collection.
But that modifies the object and loses information (e.g. converts the now Carbon object to a string).

$collection = json_decode(collect($obj)->toJson());
dump($collection); // unwanted: $collection->count = 1, $collection->now = "2021-05-25T10:43:34.301505Z"

How can I wrap an object into a collection without turning it into an associative array?

shaedrich · Accepted Answer · 2021-05-25 11:04:17Z

2

Maybe that's because a collection is considered an array of multiple entries. Technically, you're passing just one unwrapped entry whose properties are considered array entries for the collection. So I'd say, you're using the collection wrong.

From the docs:

The Illuminate\Support\Collection class provides a fluent, convenient wrapper for working with arrays of data.

Another way of emphasizing this, is that the Collection class implements the ArrayAccess interface. Therefore, this is what happens: When creating a Collection via collect(), the passed data is set to $this->items. So Collection is not an array, it just lets you access the contents of $this->items via array notation.

answered May 25, 2021 at 11:04

shaedrich

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4 Comments

Kurt Friars Over a year ago

And to answer "How can I wrap an object into a collection without turning it into an associative array?" you need to collect([ $obj ]).

shaedrich Over a year ago

That's possible but it still won't let them do $obj->count. Accessing it via array notation ($obj[0]->count) remains

wivku Over a year ago

It could very well be that I'm using the collection wrong. But, similar situation when using array of objects collect([$obj1, $obj2]). Would like collection helpers to chain e.g. filter / except / ... . E.g. for the collection return the objects, except its now property and then group them by count. This works fine for Laravel models but not for simple objects?

shaedrich Over a year ago

It's a bit vague to answer that. Isn't that a whole new question?

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