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<h1 class="refname">Serializable::serialize</h1>
<p class="verinfo">(PHP 5 >= 5.1.0)</p><p class="refpurpose"><span class="refname">Serializable::serialize</span> — <span class="dc-title">String representation of object</span></p>
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<div class="refsect1 description" id="refsect1-serializable.serialize-description">
<h3 class="title">Description</h3>
<div class="methodsynopsis dc-description">
<span class="modifier">abstract</span> <span class="modifier">public</span> <span class="type">string</span> <span class="methodname"><strong>Serializable::serialize</strong></span>
( <span class="methodparam">void</span>
)</div>
<p class="para rdfs-comment">
Should return the string representation of the object.
</p>
<blockquote class="note"><p><strong class="note">Note</strong>:
<p class="para">
This method acts as the
<a href="language.oop5.decon.html#language.oop5.decon.destructor" class="link">destructor</a> of the object. The
<a href="language.oop5.decon.html#object.destruct" class="link">__destruct()</a> method will <em class="emphasis">not</em> be called after this
method.
</p>
</p></blockquote>
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<div class="refsect1 parameters" id="refsect1-serializable.serialize-parameters">
<h3 class="title">Parameters</h3>
<p class="para">This function has no parameters.</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 returnvalues" id="refsect1-serializable.serialize-returnvalues">
<h3 class="title">Return Values</h3>
<p class="para">
Returns the string representation of the object or <strong><code>NULL</code></strong>
</p>
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<div class="refsect1 errors" id="refsect1-serializable.serialize-errors">
<h3 class="title">Errors/Exceptions</h3>
<p class="para">
Throws <a href="class.exception.html" class="classname">Exception</a> when returning other types than strings and
<strong><code>NULL</code></strong>.
</p>
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<div class="refsect1 seealso" id="refsect1-serializable.serialize-seealso">
<h3 class="title">See Also</h3>
<p class="para">
<ul class="simplelist">
<li class="member"><a href="language.oop5.magic.html#object.sleep" class="link">__sleep()</a></li>
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