Plain PHP Usage

Complete guide for using Data Helpers in plain PHP projects.

Introduction

Data Helpers works perfectly in plain PHP projects without any framework:

• ✅ No Dependencies - Works standalone
• ✅ Full Feature Set - All features available
• ✅ Arrays, Objects, JSON, XML - Multiple input formats
• ✅ Type Safety - Full type casting
• ✅ Validation - Built-in validation
• ✅ Lightweight - Minimal overhead

Installation

composer require event4u/data-helpers

Basic Usage

Create DTO

<?php

require 'vendor/autoload.php';

use event4u\DataHelpers\SimpleDTO\SimpleDTO;
use event4u\DataHelpers\SimpleDTO\Attributes\Required;
use event4u\DataHelpers\SimpleDTO\Attributes\Email;

class UserDTO extends SimpleDTO
{
    public function __construct(
        #[Required]
        public readonly string $name,

        #[Required, Email]
        public readonly string $email,
    ) {}
}

From Array

$dto = UserDTO::fromArray([
    'name' => 'John Doe',
    'email' => 'john@example.com',
]);

echo $dto->name;  // 'John Doe'
echo $dto->email; // 'john@example.com'

From JSON

$json = '{"name":"John Doe","email":"john@example.com"}';
$dto = UserDTO::fromJson($json);

From XML

$xml = '<user><name>John Doe</name><email>john@example.com</email></user>';
$dto = UserDTO::fromXml($xml);

From POST Data

$dto = UserDTO::fromArray($_POST);

Validation

Manual Validation

$dto = UserDTO::fromArray($_POST);

try {
    $dto->validate();
    // Validation passed
} catch (\event4u\DataHelpers\SimpleDTO\Exceptions\ValidationException $e) {
    // Validation failed
    $errors = $e->getErrors();
    print_r($errors);
}

Validate and Create

try {
    $dto = UserDTO::validateAndCreate($_POST);
    // DTO is valid
} catch (\event4u\DataHelpers\SimpleDTO\Exceptions\ValidationException $e) {
    // Validation failed
    $errors = $e->getErrors();
}

Type Casting

Automatic Type Casting

use event4u\DataHelpers\SimpleDTO\Attributes\Cast;
use event4u\DataHelpers\SimpleDTO\Casts\IntCast;
use event4u\DataHelpers\SimpleDTO\Casts\DateTimeCast;

class OrderDTO extends SimpleDTO
{
    public function __construct(
        #[Cast(IntCast::class)]
        public readonly int $orderId,

        #[Cast(DateTimeCast::class)]
        public readonly \Carbon\Carbon $orderDate,
    ) {}
}

$dto = OrderDTO::fromArray([
    'orderId' => '123',        // String to int
    'orderDate' => '2024-01-01', // String to Carbon
]);

Serialization

To Array

$dto = UserDTO::fromArray($data);
$array = $dto->toArray();

To JSON

$json = $dto->toJson();

To XML

$xml = $dto->toXml();

Real-World Example

API Endpoint

<?php

require 'vendor/autoload.php';

use event4u\DataHelpers\SimpleDTO\SimpleDTO;
use event4u\DataHelpers\SimpleDTO\Attributes\*;

class CreateUserDTO extends SimpleDTO
{
    public function __construct(
        #[Required, Min(3)]
        public readonly string $name,

        #[Required, Email]
        public readonly string $email,

        #[Required, Min(8)]
        public readonly string $password,
    ) {}
}

// Handle POST request
if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] === 'POST') {
    try {
        $dto = CreateUserDTO::validateAndCreate($_POST);

        // Save to database
        $pdo = new PDO('mysql:host=localhost;dbname=mydb', 'user', 'pass');
        $stmt = $pdo->prepare('INSERT INTO users (name, email, password) VALUES (?, ?, ?)');
        $stmt->execute([
            $dto->name,
            $dto->email,
            password_hash($dto->password, PASSWORD_DEFAULT),
        ]);

        // Return success
        header('Content-Type: application/json');
        echo json_encode(['success' => true, 'id' => $pdo->lastInsertId()]);

    } catch (\event4u\DataHelpers\SimpleDTO\Exceptions\ValidationException $e) {
        // Return validation errors
        header('Content-Type: application/json', true, 422);
        echo json_encode(['errors' => $e->getErrors()]);
    }
}

Form Processing

<?php

require 'vendor/autoload.php';

use event4u\DataHelpers\SimpleDTO\SimpleDTO;
use event4u\DataHelpers\SimpleDTO\Attributes\*;

class ContactFormDTO extends SimpleDTO
{
    public function __construct(
        #[Required]
        public readonly string $name,

        #[Required, Email]
        public readonly string $email,

        #[Required, Min(10)]
        public readonly string $message,
    ) {}
}

if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] === 'POST') {
    try {
        $dto = ContactFormDTO::validateAndCreate($_POST);

        // Send email
        mail(
            'admin@example.com',
            'Contact Form',
            "Name: {$dto->name}\nEmail: {$dto->email}\nMessage: {$dto->message}"
        );

        echo 'Message sent successfully!';

    } catch (\event4u\DataHelpers\SimpleDTO\Exceptions\ValidationException $e) {
        echo 'Validation errors:';
        print_r($e->getErrors());
    }
}
?>

<form method="POST">
    <input type="text" name="name" placeholder="Name">
    <input type="email" name="email" placeholder="Email">
    <textarea name="message" placeholder="Message"></textarea>
    <button type="submit">Send</button>
</form>

Best Practices

Use Type Hints

// ✅ Good - type hints
public readonly string $name;
public readonly int $age;

// ❌ Bad - no type hints
public readonly $name;
public readonly $age;

Validate User Input

// ✅ Good - validate
$dto = UserDTO::validateAndCreate($_POST);

// ❌ Bad - no validation
$dto = UserDTO::fromArray($_POST);

Use Validation Attributes

// ✅ Good - validation attributes
#[Required, Email]
public readonly string $email;

// ❌ Bad - no validation
public readonly string $email;

See Also

• SimpleDTO Introduction - DTO basics
• Validation - Validation guide
• Type Casting - Type casting guide