Casting Attributes

Reference for type casting attributes and 20+ built-in cast classes.

The Cast Attribute

#[Cast(string $castClass)]

Cast property to a specific type:

use Event4u\DataHelpers\SimpleDTO\Attributes\Cast;
use Event4u\DataHelpers\SimpleDTO\Casts\DateTimeCast;

#[Cast(DateTimeCast::class)]
public readonly Carbon $createdAt;

Built-in Cast Classes

Primitive Types

#[Cast(StringCast::class)]   // Cast to string
#[Cast(IntCast::class)]      // Cast to integer
#[Cast(FloatCast::class)]    // Cast to float
#[Cast(BoolCast::class)]     // Cast to boolean
#[Cast(ArrayCast::class)]    // Cast to array

Date & Time

#[Cast(DateTimeCast::class)]  // Cast to Carbon
#[Cast(DateCast::class)]      // Cast to Carbon (date only)
#[Cast(TimestampCast::class)] // Cast from timestamp

Enums

#[Cast(EnumCast::class)]       // Cast to enum
#[Cast(BackedEnumCast::class)] // Cast to backed enum

Collections

#[Cast(CollectionCast::class)]     // Cast to Collection
#[Cast(DataCollectionCast::class)] // Cast to DataCollection

Objects & JSON

#[Cast(ObjectCast::class)]  // Cast to object
#[Cast(JsonCast::class)]    // Cast JSON to array

Security

#[Cast(EncryptedCast::class)]  // Encrypt/decrypt
#[Cast(HashCast::class)]       // One-way hash

Other

#[Cast(DecimalCast::class)]    // Cast to decimal
#[Cast(UuidCast::class)]       // Cast to UUID
#[Cast(IpAddressCast::class)]  // Cast to IP address
#[Cast(UrlCast::class)]        // Cast to URL

Cast Options

// Date format
#[Cast(DateTimeCast::class, format: 'Y-m-d H:i:s')]
public readonly Carbon $createdAt;

// Nullable cast
#[Cast(IntCast::class, nullable: true)]
public readonly ?int $age;

// Default value
#[Cast(StringCast::class, default: 'N/A')]
public readonly string $name;

Custom Casts

use Event4u\DataHelpers\SimpleDTO\Contracts\Cast;

class UpperCaseCast implements Cast
{
    public function cast(mixed $value): string
    {
        return strtoupper((string) $value);
    }
}

#[Cast(UpperCaseCast::class)]
public readonly string $name;

Real-World Example

class UserDTO extends SimpleDTO
{
    public function __construct(
        #[Cast(StringCast::class)]
        public readonly string $name,

        #[Cast(DateTimeCast::class)]
        public readonly Carbon $birthDate,

        #[Cast(EnumCast::class)]
        public readonly Status $status,

        #[Cast(EncryptedCast::class)]
        public readonly string $ssn,
    ) {}
}

See Also

• Type Casting - Detailed guide
• Validation Attributes - Validation reference