[PHP] Cast a PHP a Standard Class to a Specific Type

00-cast-class-to-type.php

<?php
/**
 * This function will take an instance of a PHP stdClass and attempt to cast it to
 * the type of the specified $className.
 *
 * For example, we may pass 'Acme\Model\Product' as the $className.
 *
 * @param object $instance  an instance of the stdClass to convert
 * @param string $className the name of the class type to which we want to cals
 *
 * @return mixed a version of the incoming $instance casted as the specified className
 */
protected function cast($instance, $className)
{
    return unserialize(sprintf(
        'O:%d:"%s"%s',
        \strlen($className),
        $className,
        strstr(strstr(serialize($instance), '"'), ':')
    ));
}

01-serialized-data.php

O:17:"Acme\Model\Product":8:{s:25:"�Acme\Model\Product�number";s:3:"532";s:23:"�Acme\Model\Product�name";s:23:"Aura Bath & Spa - Matte";s:27:"�Acme\Model\Product�longName";s:56:"Aura Bath & Spa Waterborne Interior Paint - Matte Finish";s:22:"�Acme\Model\Product�url";s:37:"http://www.benjaminmoore.com/aura_532";s:27:"�Acme\Model\Product�shortUrl";s:9:"/aura_532";s:26:"�Acme\Model\Product�image1x";s:153:"www2.benjaminmoore.com/ShowPropertyServlet?nodePath=/BEA Repository/imagerepository/public_site/product_images_new/IA_pri_0532//image_88x86.content_en_US";s:26:"�Acme\Model\Product�image2x";s:155:"www2.benjaminmoore.com/ShowPropertyServlet?nodePath=/BEA Repository/imagerepository/public_site/product_images_new/IA_pri_0532//image_197x193.content_en_US";s:26:"�Acme\Model\Product�image3x";s:155:"www2.benjaminmoore.com/ShowPropertyServlet?nodePath=/BEA Repository/imagerepository/public_site/product_images_new/IA_pri_0532//image_197x193.content_en_US";}

02-casting-an-object.php

<?php
$exampleObject = get_option('acmeModelProject', null);
if (null === $exampleObject) {
  return;
}

$exampleObject = $this->cast($exampleObject, 'Acme\Model\Product');