lithium\util\Collection::formats()

public static method

Accessor method for adding format handlers to instances and subclasses of Collection. The values assigned are used by Collection::to() to convert Collection instances into different formats, i.e. JSON.

This can be accomplished in two ways. First, format handlers may be registered on a case-by-case basis, as in the following:

Collection::formats('json', function($collection, $options) {
	return json_encode($collection->to('array'));
});

// You can also implement the above as a static class method, and register it as follows:
Collection::formats('json', '\my\custom\Formatter::toJson');

Alternatively, you can implement a class that can handle several formats. This class must implement two static methods:

  • A formats() method, which returns an array indicating what formats it handles.

  • A to() method, which handles the actual conversion.

Once a class implements these methods, it may be registered per the following:

Collection::formats('\lithium\net\http\Media');

For reference on how to implement these methods, see the Media class.

Once a handler is registered, any instance of Collection or a subclass can be converted to the format(s) supported by the class or handler, using the to() method.

Parameters

  • string $format

    A string representing the name of the format that a Collection can be converted to. This corresponds to the $format parameter in the to() method. Alternatively, the fully-namespaced class name of a format-handler class.
  • mixed $handler

    If $format is the name of a format string, $handler should be the function that handles the conversion, either an anonymous function, or a reference to a method name in "Class::method" form. If $format is a class name, can be null.

Returns

mixed

Returns the value of the format handler assigned.

Source

	public static function formats($format, $handler = null) {
		if ($format === false) {
			return static::$_formats = ['array' => 'lithium\util\Collection::toArray'];
		}
		if ($handler === null && class_exists($format)) {
			return static::$_formats[] = $format;
		}
		return static::$_formats[$format] = $handler;
	}