Doctrine doesn't store ArrayCollection

Question

I have an Entity that has a array field like this:

...
    /**
     * @var array
     *
     * @ORM\Column(name="tels", type="json_array")
     */
    private $tels;
...

I fill this using form and it fills correctly as after submit var_dump($entity->getTels()) returns this:

object(Doctrine\Common\Collections\ArrayCollection)[448]
  private '_elements' => 
    array (size=1)
      0 => string '123' (length=3)

But after persist doctrine ignores this fields value and stores empty array:

+----+------+
| id | tels |
+----+------+
|  1 | {}   |
+----+------+

What is the problem?

what do you get running `var_dump(json_encode($entity->getTels()))` — Chase, Oct 31 '14 at 23:32
There is your issue, you could try just using regular array type `type="array"`, unless you have a specific need for it to be a json_array? — Chase, Oct 31 '14 at 23:34
@Chausser: you're right json only encodes arrays & not objects; so I should either use DataTransformers or regular array; thanks (& if you make an answer I will accept) — Ariyan, Oct 31 '14 at 23:42

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 31 '14 at 23:43

The type json_array expects an array which will then be converted to json using json_encode. While a Doctrine ArrayCollection is technically traversable it doesnt nicely cast to array. So you either need to call ->toArray() on it or change your type to just be array

$entity->setTels($theArrayCollection->toArray());

Doctrine doesn't store ArrayCollection

1 Answers1