Passing a serialized array using POST yields unexpected result - php

Question

I am puzzled.
My goal is to pass the array through POST to another page and access it's data. I found a way of doing it using serialize().
It worked fine since I am able to see the array on the other page, but when I try to access a nested array within the main array I don't get the expected results. In other words, I can access the data inside the main array but I get "null" for the inner array.
Let me show you what I did:
//The array:
$cart = &JModelLegacy::getInstance('cart', 'jshop');
$cart->load();
//I can access data of the inner array (the products) within the $cart array, for example:
$productos = $cart->products;
echo "<pre>".json_encode($cart, JSON_PRETTY_PRINT)."</pre>";
echo "<pre>".json_encode($productos[1], JSON_PRETTY_PRINT)."</pre>";
//Then serializing it:
$serializedcart = serialize($cart);
//Then sending it in a form using POST
<input type='hidden' name='cartserialized' value='<?php print $serializedcart?>'>
.... then on the other page:
// I unserialize the transferred array:
$carretilla = unserialize($_POST[cartserialized]);
// And this doesn't work anymore, I get "null" for $productos:
$productos = $carretilla->products;
echo "<pre>".json_encode($carretilla, JSON_PRETTY_PRINT)."</pre>";
echo "<pre>".json_encode($productos[1], JSON_PRETTY_PRINT)."</pre>";
Why? Any help will be greatly appreciated.
This is the output before serialization: (Output of $cart and products inside cart.)
{
"type_cart": "cart",
"products": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"product_id": 329,
"category_id": "17",
"tax": null,
"tax_id": "0",
"product_name": "ATX Cromo Puro",
"thumb_image": "thumb_882-2.jpg",
"delivery_times_id": "0",
"ean": "882-2",
"attributes": "a:1:{i:1;i:28;}",
"attributes_value": [
{
"attr_id": 1,
"value_id": 28,
"attr": "Color",
"value": "Cromo"
}
],
"extra_fields": [],
"weight": "0.0000",
"vendor_id": "1",
"files": "a:0:{}",
"freeattributes": "a:0:{}",
"manufacturer": "Cross",
"pid_check_qty_value": "A:218",
"price": 570,
"href": "\/index.php\/tienda\/product\/view\/17\/329",
"free_attributes_value": []
},
{
"quantity": 3,
"product_id": 469,
"category_id": "21",
"tax": null,
"tax_id": "0",
"product_name": "Bater\u00eda Auxiliar",
"thumb_image": "thumb_JK-PB035.jpg",
"delivery_times_id": "0",
"ean": "JK-PB035",
"attributes": "a:0:{}",
"attributes_value": [],
"extra_fields": [],
"weight": "35.0000",
"vendor_id": "1",
"files": "a:0:{}",
"freeattributes": "a:0:{}",
"manufacturer": null,
"pid_check_qty_value": "P:469",
"price": 265,
"href": "\/index.php\/tienda\/product\/view\/21\/469",
"free_attributes_value": []
}
],
"count_product": 4,
"price_product": 1365,
"summ": 0,
"rabatt_id": 0,
"rabatt_value": 0,
"rabatt_type": 0,
"rabatt_summ": 0,
"model_temp_cart": "tempcart",
"price_product_brutto": 1365
}
{
"quantity": 3,
"product_id": 469,
"category_id": "21",
"tax": null,
"tax_id": "0",
"product_name": "Bater\u00eda Auxiliar",
"thumb_image": "thumb_JK-PB035.jpg",
"delivery_times_id": "0",
"ean": "JK-PB035",
"attributes": "a:0:{}",
"attributes_value": [],
"extra_fields": [],
"weight": "35.0000",
"vendor_id": "1",
"files": "a:0:{}",
"freeattributes": "a:0:{}",
"manufacturer": null,
"pid_check_qty_value": "P:469",
"price": 265,
"href": "\/index.php\/tienda\/product\/view\/21\/469",
"free_attributes_value": []
}
And after serialization and sending:
{
"__PHP_Incomplete_Class_Name": "jshopCart",
"type_cart": "cart",
"products": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"product_id": 329,
"category_id": "17",
"tax": null,
"tax_id": "0",
"product_name": "ATX Cromo Puro",
"thumb_image": "thumb_882-2.jpg",
"delivery_times_id": "0",
"ean": "882-2",
"attributes": "a:1:{i:1;i:28;}",
"attributes_value": [
{
"attr_id": 1,
"value_id": 28,
"attr": "Color",
"value": "Cromo"
}
],
"extra_fields": [],
"weight": "0.0000",
"vendor_id": "1",
"files": "a:0:{}",
"freeattributes": "a:0:{}",
"manufacturer": "Cross",
"pid_check_qty_value": "A:218",
"price": 570,
"href": "\/index.php\/tienda\/product\/view\/17\/329",
"free_attributes_value": []
},
{
"quantity": 3,
"product_id": 469,
"category_id": "21",
"tax": null,
"tax_id": "0",
"product_name": "Bater\u00eda Auxiliar",
"thumb_image": "thumb_JK-PB035.jpg",
"delivery_times_id": "0",
"ean": "JK-PB035",
"attributes": "a:0:{}",
"attributes_value": [],
"extra_fields": [],
"weight": "35.0000",
"vendor_id": "1",
"files": "a:0:{}",
"freeattributes": "a:0:{}",
"manufacturer": null,
"pid_check_qty_value": "P:469",
"price": 265,
"href": "\/index.php\/tienda\/product\/view\/21\/469",
"free_attributes_value": []
}
],
"count_product": 4,
"price_product": 1365,
"summ": 0,
"rabatt_id": 0,
"rabatt_value": 0,
"rabatt_type": 0,
"rabatt_summ": 0,
"model_temp_cart": "tempcart",
"price_product_brutto": 1365
}
null

Answer 1

In order to deserialize an object in PHP, you need to load the class first. So include the script that defines the type of this object, then deserialize.

Answer 2

Thank you guys.
I tried using json_encode and json_decode as suggested in other forum and it seems to work better and I have no problem sending and retrieving the data on the other end.
Thanks for your valuable time.