PHP how can i append data into a serialized array

Question

If I have a serialized array... how can I append more values to it? Should I unserialize it first -> add data and then serialize it again?

Answer 1

Yes.

function addItem($serializedArray, $item)
{
   $a = unserialize($serializedArray);
   $a[] = $item;
   return serialize($a);
}

Answer 2

Unserializing is the way to go, definitely. Unless you have a huge string, it'd be strongly recommended, unless you want to make your own strict interpreter.

Changing anything from a serialized array/object should be done very carefully - a single extra character would break everything if you don't update all previous numbers defining each piece of structure!

Answer 3

yes, this is the only (reliable) way