Store JSON data into TEXT mysql column with doctrine - api-platform.com

Question

I have an entity with one TEXT (MySQL) attributes
<?php
namespace App\Entity;
use ApiPlatform\Core\Annotation\ApiResource;
use Doctrine\ORM\Mapping as ORM;
use Doctrine\ORM\Mapping\Table;
use Doctrine\ORM\Mapping\Index;
use ApiPlatform\Core\Annotation\ApiProperty;
/**
* #ApiResource(
* attributes={},
* collectionOperations={
* "get"={},
* "post"={
* "access_control"="is_granted('ROLE_COMPANY')"
* },
* },
* itemOperations={
* "get"={},
* "put"={"access_control"="is_granted('ROLE_COMPANY')"},
* }
* )
* #ORM\Entity(
* repositoryClass="App\Repository\SettingRepository",
* )
* #ORM\Table(
* indexes={#Index(name="domain_idx", columns={"domain"})}
* )
*/
class Setting
{
/**
* #var Uuid
* #ApiProperty(identifier=true)
* #ORM\Id
* #ORM\Column(type="string")
* #ORM\GeneratedValue(strategy="NONE")
*/
private $identifier;
/**
* #ORM\Column(type="text", nullable=true)
*/
private $data = array();
/**
* #ORM\Column(type="string", nullable=true)
*/
private $domain = array();
public function getData()
{
if($this->data == null) return array();
$data = unserialize($this->data);
return $data;
}
public function setData($data): self
{
$this->data = serialize($data);
return $this;
}
/**
* #return mixed
*/
public function getIdentifier()
{
return $this->identifier;
}
/**
* #param mixed $key
*/
public function setIdentifier($identifier): self
{
$this->identifier = $identifier;
return $this;
}
/**
* #return mixed
*/
public function getDomain()
{
return $this->domain;
}
/**
* #param mixed $domain
*/
public function setDomain($domain): self
{
$this->domain = $domain;
return $this;
}
}
If I try to invoke the service with the following parameter structure it works fine:
{
"data": "testData",
"identifier": "testIdentifier",
"domain": "domain1"
}
But If I would like to store an embedded JSON string, for example:
"data": {"temp": 123}
I receive the following error:
hydra:description": "The type of the \"data\" attribute must be \"string\", \"array\" given.",
I tried to convert the object into an string in the method setData. But this method will not be invoked. It seams, that the API-Platform detects the wrong type and throws the exception.
I found some comments, that it is necessary to decorate the property:
https://api-platform.com/docs/core/serialization/#decorating-a-serializer-and-adding-extra-data
Can anyone give me an example? It does not work!
Where is the right place to serialise and unserialise the property data?
Does anyone have an idea?
Kind regards

Answer 1

You need to set the column type to json in MySQL. It should behave as expected.
/**
* #var array Additional data describing the setting.
* #ORM\Column(type="json", nullable=true)
*/
private $data = null;
I think null is more consistent than an empty array, but that's your choice.