How to send an array that can't be serialized to another page?

Question

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Centrum Homepage</title>
</head>
<body>



<div id="logo">
<h1>WELCOME TO CENTRUM</h1>
</div>
<div id="instruction">
Enter a path on the filesystem to search for media    
</div>
<div id="search-div">
<form action="index.php" method="post">
<input type="text" name="search-bar">
<input type="submit" name="search-submit" value="Search Path">    
</form>

<?php

// You can add any file you want to search for, keep in mind, the default ones are the only ones supported by HTML5 players

$ImageFormats = array('jpeg', 'jpg', 'png');
$MusicFormats = array('mp3', 'wav');
$VideoFormats = array('mp4', 'webm');
$ImageFound = array();
$MusicFound = array();
$VideoFound = array();



if(isset($_POST['search-submit'])){
    $path = $_POST['search-bar'];

if (!file_exists($path)) {
    echo "Path not found. Please try another path.";
} else {

// If Path is valid, search for media in folders and sub folders and add them to arrays

foreach (new RecursiveIteratorIterator(new RecursiveDirectoryIterator($path)) as $filename)
{


if(in_array(pathinfo($filename, PATHINFO_EXTENSION), $ImageFormats)) 
    array_push($ImageFound, $filename);


elseif(in_array(pathinfo($filename, PATHINFO_EXTENSION), $MusicFormats)) 
    array_push($MusicFound, $filename);


elseif(in_array(pathinfo($filename, PATHINFO_EXTENSION), $VideoFormats)) 
    array_push($VideoFound, $filename);
}

if (empty($ImageFound))
    echo "No Image found";
else {
    echo "We found " . count($ImageFound) . "image files" . "<br>";
        echo '<form action="photos.php" method="post">';
     echo '<input type="image" src="images/photo.png" \>';
    echo "</form>";

}



if (empty($MusicFound))
    echo "No Music found";
else {




    echo "We found " . count($MusicFound) . "Music files" . "<br>";
        echo '<form action="music.php" method="post">';
     echo '<input type="image" src="images/music.png" \>';
    echo '<input type="submit" name="submit-music" value="View Music" \>';

    echo "</form>";

}


if (empty($VideoFound))
    echo "No Video found";
else {
    echo "We found " . count($VideoFound) . "video files" . "<br>";
        echo '<form action="videos.php" method="post">';
     echo '<input type="image" src="images/video.png" \>';
    echo '<input type="submit" name="submit-videos" value="View videos" \>';
    echo "</form>";

}
}
}
?>

</body>
</html>

All arrays store huge number of paths on the machine. This script is gonna run on raspberry pi, no MySQL. I tried writing to a file the var_dump

you can think of an array thousands of strings similar to

/home/Desktop/centrum/1.mp3

I tried to save it in a session, it doesn't get saved, is there a way to save it to a session without messing with the data? the data can't be serialized just the simplest way to put in in a session? before playing with a database.

if i write $sm = serialize($MusicFound);

before

if (empty($ImageFound))

I get

Fatal error: Uncaught Exception: Serialization of 'SplFileInfo' is not allowed in /opt/lampp/htdocs/web/centrum/index.php:60 Stack trace: #0 /opt/lampp/htdocs/web/centrum/index.php(60): serialize(Array) #1 {main} thrown in /opt/lampp/htdocs/web/centrum/index.php on line 60

and this question states that I'm getting my error because I cant serialize

With over 1k reputation you should know by now that formatting your code for readability is going to increase the chance of your question being answered tenfold — scrowler, May 26 '16 at 22:23
don't send it. Instead store that list somehow (say, a file), and make you server "serve up" the file content on request when someone asks for `yourserver/filecontent/fileid`, and send that tiny, tiny file id instead of the file's content. — Mike 'Pomax' Kamermans, May 26 '16 at 22:24
@RobbieAverill isn't readable? and if i paste it to pastebin some users will complain to, for me it's easily readable and there's plenty of empty spaces, is there a rule of thumb i should follow? — Lynob, May 26 '16 at 22:45
@Mike'Pomax'Kamermans the problem is that I the array cant be printed to a file and cant be serialized, should i try something like`var_export`? haven't tried it yet — Lynob, May 26 '16 at 22:49
@Lynob Indentation, indentation, indentation. Your indentation should match your nesting. IMO thats way more important than 'plenty of spaces'. — jfadich, May 26 '16 at 22:55
Why can't the data be serialized? If it can't be serialized then it can't be stored in a session. — jfadich, May 26 '16 at 22:57
@jfadich roger that about indentation. if i write `$sm = serialize($MusicFound);` before `if (empty($ImageFound))` I get `Fatal error: Uncaught Exception: Serialization of 'SplFileInfo' is not allowed in /opt/lampp/htdocs/web/centrum/index.php:60 Stack trace: #0 /opt/lampp/htdocs/web/centrum/index.php(60): serialize(Array) #1 {main} thrown in /opt/lampp/htdocs/web/centrum/index.php on line 60` - and this http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6242821/why-serialization-of-splfileinfo-is-not-allowed states that I'm getting my error because I cant serialize — Lynob, May 26 '16 at 23:15
So thats because you have an array of File objects (which can't be serialized), not filepath strings. Try replacing `array_push($ImageFound, $filename);` with `array_push($ImageFound, $filename-> getRealPath());` — jfadich, May 26 '16 at 23:20
@jfadich issue solved! if you post an answer, I will accept it, thank you! — Lynob, May 26 '16 at 23:24

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered May 26 '16 at 23:29

The arrays ($ImageFound, $MusicFound, $VideoFound) are actually arrays of SplFileInfo objects, not strings. When you add a new file to the array you'll want to convert the object to a string. You can do that by getting the filepath from the object.

Update the array_push calls to this:

array_push($ImageFound, $filename->getRealPath());

Depending on what you're trying to do you may want to use any method on SplFileInfo to get the filepath, filename, etc.

How to send an array that can't be serialized to another page?

1 Answers1