What is the best method to merge two PHP objects? - php

We have two PHP5 objects and would like to merge the content of one into the second. There are no notion of subclasses between them so the solutions described in the following topic cannot apply.
How do you copy a PHP object into a different object type
//We have this:
$objectA->a;
$objectA->b;
$objectB->c;
$objectB->d;
//We want the easiest way to get:
$objectC->a;
$objectC->b;
$objectC->c;
$objectC->d;
Remarks:
These are objects, not classes.
The objects contain quite a lot of fields so a foreach would be quite slow.
So far we consider transforming objects A and B into arrays then merging them using array_merge() before re-transforming into an object but we can't say we are proud if this.

If your objects only contain fields (no methods), this works:
$obj_merged = (object) array_merge((array) $obj1, (array) $obj2);
This actually also works when objects have methods. (tested with PHP 5.3 and 5.6)

foreach($objectA as $k => $v) $objectB->$k = $v;

You could create another object that dispatches calls to magic methods to the underlying objects. Here's how you'd handle __get, but to get it working fully you'd have to override all the relevant magic methods. You'll probably find syntax errors since I just entered it off the top of my head.
class Compositor {
private $obj_a;
private $obj_b;
public function __construct($obj_a, $obj_b) {
$this->obj_a = $obj_a;
$this->obj_b = $obj_b;
}
public function __get($attrib_name) {
if ($this->obj_a->$attrib_name) {
return $this->obj_a->$attrib_name;
} else {
return $this->obj_b->$attrib_name;
}
}
}
Good luck.

I understand that using the generic objects [stdClass()] and casting them as arrays answers the question, but I thought the Compositor was a great answer. Yet I felt it could use some feature enhancements and might be useful for someone else.
Features:
Specify reference or clone
Specify first or last entry to take precedence
Multiple (more than two) object merging with syntax similarity to array_merge
Method linking: $obj->f1()->f2()->f3()...
Dynamic composites: $obj->merge(...) /* work here */ $obj->merge(...)
Code:
class Compositor {
protected $composite = array();
protected $use_reference;
protected $first_precedence;
/**
* __construct, Constructor
*
* Used to set options.
*
* #param bool $use_reference whether to use a reference (TRUE) or to copy the object (FALSE) [default]
* #param bool $first_precedence whether the first entry takes precedence (TRUE) or last entry takes precedence (FALSE) [default]
*/
public function __construct($use_reference = FALSE, $first_precedence = FALSE) {
// Use a reference
$this->use_reference = $use_reference === TRUE ? TRUE : FALSE;
$this->first_precedence = $first_precedence === TRUE ? TRUE : FALSE;
}
/**
* Merge, used to merge multiple objects stored in an array
*
* This is used to *start* the merge or to merge an array of objects.
* It is not needed to start the merge, but visually is nice.
*
* #param object[]|object $objects array of objects to merge or a single object
* #return object the instance to enable linking
*/
public function & merge() {
$objects = func_get_args();
// Each object
foreach($objects as &$object) $this->with($object);
// Garbage collection
unset($object);
// Return $this instance
return $this;
}
/**
* With, used to merge a singluar object
*
* Used to add an object to the composition
*
* #param object $object an object to merge
* #return object the instance to enable linking
*/
public function & with(&$object) {
// An object
if(is_object($object)) {
// Reference
if($this->use_reference) {
if($this->first_precedence) array_push($this->composite, $object);
else array_unshift($this->composite, $object);
}
// Clone
else {
if($this->first_precedence) array_push($this->composite, clone $object);
else array_unshift($this->composite, clone $object);
}
}
// Return $this instance
return $this;
}
/**
* __get, retrieves the psudo merged object
*
* #param string $name name of the variable in the object
* #return mixed returns a reference to the requested variable
*
*/
public function & __get($name) {
$return = NULL;
foreach($this->composite as &$object) {
if(isset($object->$name)) {
$return =& $object->$name;
break;
}
}
// Garbage collection
unset($object);
return $return;
}
}
Usage:
$obj = new Compositor(use_reference, first_precedence);
$obj->merge([object $object [, object $object [, object $...]]]);
$obj->with([object $object]);
Example:
$obj1 = new stdClass();
$obj1->a = 'obj1:a';
$obj1->b = 'obj1:b';
$obj1->c = 'obj1:c';
$obj2 = new stdClass();
$obj2->a = 'obj2:a';
$obj2->b = 'obj2:b';
$obj2->d = 'obj2:d';
$obj3 = new Compositor();
$obj3->merge($obj1, $obj2);
$obj1->c = '#obj1:c';
var_dump($obj3->a, $obj3->b, $obj3->c, $obj3->d);
// obj2:a, obj2:b, obj1:c, obj2:d
$obj1->c;
$obj3 = new Compositor(TRUE);
$obj3->merge($obj1)->with($obj2);
$obj1->c = '#obj1:c';
var_dump($obj3->a, $obj3->b, $obj3->c, $obj3->d);
// obj1:a, obj1:b, obj1:c, obj2:d
$obj1->c = 'obj1:c';
$obj3 = new Compositor(FALSE, TRUE);
$obj3->with($obj1)->with($obj2);
$obj1->c = '#obj1:c';
var_dump($obj3->a, $obj3->b, $obj3->c, $obj3->d);
// obj1:a, obj1:b, #obj1:c, obj2:d
$obj1->c = 'obj1:c';

A very simple solution considering you have object A and B:
foreach($objB AS $var=>$value){
$objA->$var = $value;
}
That's all. You now have objA with all values from objB.

The \ArrayObject class has the possibility to exchange the current array to disconnect the original reference. To do so, it comes with two handy methods: exchangeArray() and getArrayCopy(). The rest is plain simple array_merge() of the provided object with the ArrayObjects public properties:
class MergeBase extends ArrayObject
{
public final function merge( Array $toMerge )
{
$this->exchangeArray( array_merge( $this->getArrayCopy(), $toMerge ) );
}
}
The usage is as easy as this:
$base = new MergeBase();
$base[] = 1;
$base[] = 2;
$toMerge = [ 3,4,5, ];
$base->merge( $toMerge );

a solution To preserve,both methods and properties from merged onjects is to create a combinator class that can
take any number of objects on __construct
access any method using __call
accsess any property using __get
class combinator{
function __construct(){
$this->melt = array_reverse(func_get_args());
// array_reverse is to replicate natural overide
}
public function __call($method,$args){
forEach($this->melt as $o){
if(method_exists($o, $method)){
return call_user_func_array([$o,$method], $args);
//return $o->$method($args);
}
}
}
public function __get($prop){
foreach($this->melt as $o){
if(isset($o->$prop))return $o->$prop;
}
return 'undefined';
}
}
simple use
class c1{
public $pc1='pc1';
function mc1($a,$b){echo __METHOD__." ".($a+$b);}
}
class c2{
public $pc2='pc2';
function mc2(){echo __CLASS__." ".__METHOD__;}
}
$comb=new combinator(new c1, new c2);
$comb->mc1(1,2);
$comb->non_existing_method(); // silent
echo $comb->pc2;

I would go with linking the second object into a property of the first object. If the second object is the result of a function or method, use references. Ex:
//Not the result of a method
$obj1->extra = new Class2();
//The result of a method, for instance a factory class
$obj1->extra =& Factory::getInstance('Class2');

To merge any number of raw objects
function merge_obj(){
foreach(func_get_args() as $a){
$objects[]=(array)$a;
}
return (object)call_user_func_array('array_merge', $objects);
}

This snippet of code will recursively convert that data to a single type (array or object) without the nested foreach loops. Hope it helps someone!
Once an Object is in array format you can use array_merge and convert back to Object if you need to.
abstract class Util {
public static function object_to_array($d) {
if (is_object($d))
$d = get_object_vars($d);
return is_array($d) ? array_map(__METHOD__, $d) : $d;
}
public static function array_to_object($d) {
return is_array($d) ? (object) array_map(__METHOD__, $d) : $d;
}
}
Procedural way
function object_to_array($d) {
if (is_object($d))
$d = get_object_vars($d);
return is_array($d) ? array_map(__FUNCTION__, $d) : $d;
}
function array_to_object($d) {
return is_array($d) ? (object) array_map(__FUNCTION__, $d) : $d;
}
All credit goes to: Jason Oakley

Here is a function that will flatten an object or array. Use this only if you are sure your keys are unique. If you have keys with the same name they will be overwritten. You will need to place this in a class and replace "Functions" with the name of your class. Enjoy...
function flatten($array, $preserve_keys=1, &$out = array(), $isobject=0) {
# Flatten a multidimensional array to one dimension, optionally preserving keys.
#
# $array - the array to flatten
# $preserve_keys - 0 (default) to not preserve keys, 1 to preserve string keys only, 2 to preserve all keys
# $out - internal use argument for recursion
# $isobject - is internally set in order to remember if we're using an object or array
if(is_array($array) || $isobject==1)
foreach($array as $key => $child)
if(is_array($child))
$out = Functions::flatten($child, $preserve_keys, $out, 1); // replace "Functions" with the name of your class
elseif($preserve_keys + is_string($key) > 1)
$out[$key] = $child;
else
$out[] = $child;
if(is_object($array) || $isobject==2)
if(!is_object($out)){$out = new stdClass();}
foreach($array as $key => $child)
if(is_object($child))
$out = Functions::flatten($child, $preserve_keys, $out, 2); // replace "Functions" with the name of your class
elseif($preserve_keys + is_string($key) > 1)
$out->$key = $child;
else
$out = $child;
return $out;
}

Let's keep it simple!
function copy_properties($from, $to, $fields = null) {
// copies properties/elements (overwrites duplicates)
// can take arrays or objects
// if fields is set (an array), will only copy keys listed in that array
// returns $to with the added/replaced properties/keys
$from_array = is_array($from) ? $from : get_object_vars($from);
foreach($from_array as $key => $val) {
if(!is_array($fields) or in_array($key, $fields)) {
if(is_object($to)) {
$to->$key = $val;
} else {
$to[$key] = $val;
}
}
}
return($to);
}
If that doesn't answer your question, it will surely help towards the answer.
Credit for the code above goes to myself :)

Related

How to optimize an ArrayIterator implementation in PHP?

I have a long running PHP daemon with a collection class that extends ArrayIterator. This holds a set of custom Column objects, typically less than 1000. Running it through the xdebug profiler I found my find method consuming about 35% of the cycles.
How can I internally iterate over the items in an optimized way?
class ColumnCollection extends \ArrayIterator
{
public function find($name)
{
$return = null;
$name = trim(strtolower($name));
$this->rewind();
while ($this->valid()) {
/** #var Column $column */
$column = $this->current();
if (strtolower($column->name) === $name) {
$return = $column;
break;
}
$this->next();
}
$this->rewind();
return $return;
}
}
Your find() method apparently just returns the first Column object with the queried $name. In that case, it might make sense to index the Array by name, e.g. store the object by it's name as the key. Then your lookup becomes a O(1) call.
ArrayIterator implements ArrayAccess. This means you can add new items to your Collection like this:
$collection = new ColumnCollection;
$collection[$someCollectionObject->name] = $someCollectionObject;
and also retrieve them via the square bracket notation:
$someCollectionObject = $collection["foo"];
If you don't want to change your client code, you can simply override offsetSet in your ColumnCollection:
public function offsetSet($index, $newValue)
{
if ($index === null && $newValue instanceof Column) {
return parent::offsetSet($newValue->name, $newValue);
}
return parent::offsetSet($index, $newValue);
}
This way, doing $collection[] = $column would automatically add the $column by name. See http://codepad.org/egAchYpk for a demo.
If you use the append() method to add new elements, you just change it to:
public function append($newValue)
{
parent::offsetSet($newValue->name, $newValue);
}
However, ArrayAccess is slower than native array access, so you might want to change your ColumnCollection to something like this:
class ColumnCollection implements IteratorAggregate
{
private $columns = []; // or SplObjectStorage
public function add(Column $column) {
$this->columns[$column->name] = $column;
}
public function find($name) {
return isset($this->data[$name]) ? $this->data[$name] : null;
}
public function getIterator()
{
return new ArrayIterator($this->data);
}
}
I replaced the iterator method calls with a loop on a copy of the array. I presume this gives direct access to the internal storage since PHP implements copy-on-write. The native foreach is much faster than calling rewind(), valid(), current(), and next(). Also pre-calculating the strtolower on the Column object helped. This got performance down from 35% of cycles to 0.14%.
public function find($name)
{
$return = null;
$name = trim(strtolower($name));
/** #var Column $column */
foreach ($this->getArrayCopy() as $column) {
if ($column->nameLower === $name) {
$return = $column;
break;
}
}
return $return;
}
Also experimenting with #Gordon's suggestion of using an array keyed on name instead of using the internal storage. The above is working well for a simple drop-in replacement.

A faster way of doing objectToArray

Ive got this snippet of code below which works perfectly fine. I have been profiling it and the bit of code gets used alot of times, so I want to try figure out how to write it in a way that will perform better than the current way its written.
Is there a more efficient way to write this?
function objectToArray($d) {
if (is_object($d)) {
// Gets the properties of the given object
// with get_object_vars function
$d = get_object_vars($d);
}
if (is_array($d)) {
// Return array converted to object Using __FUNCTION__ (Magic constant) for recursive call
return array_map(__FUNCTION__, $d);
}
else {
// Return array
return $d;
}
}
You could implement a toArray() method to the class that needs to be converted:
e.g.
class foo
{
protected $property1;
protected $property2;
public function __toArray()
{
return array(
'property1' => $this->property1,
'property2' => $this->property2
);
}
}
Having access to the protected properties and having the whole conversion encapsulated in the class is in my opinion the best way.
Update
One thing to note is that the get_object_vars() function will only return the publically accessible properties - Probably not what you are after.
If the above is too manual of a task the accurate way from outside the class would be to use PHP (SPL) built in ReflectionClass:
$values = array();
$reflectionClass = new \ReflectionClass($object);
foreach($reflectionClass->getProperties() as $property) {
$values[$property->getName()] = $property->getValue($object);
}
var_dump($values);
depends what kind of object it is, many standard php objects have methods built in to convert them
for example MySQLi results can be converted like this
$resultArray = $result->fetch_array(MYSQLI_ASSOC);
if its a custom class object you might consider implementing a method in that class for that purpose as AlexP sugested
Ended up going with:
function objectToArray($d) {
$d = (object) $d;
return $d;
}
function arrayToObject($d) {
$d = (array) $d;
return $d;
}
As AlexP said you can implement a method __toArray(). Alternatively to ReflexionClass (which is complex and expensive), making use of object iteration properties, you can iterate $this as follow
class Foo
{
protected $var1;
protected $var2;
public function __toArray()
{
$result = array();
foreach ($this as $key => $value) {
$result[$key] = $value;
}
return $result;
}
}
This will also iterate object attributes not defined in the class: E.g.
$foo = new Foo;
$foo->var3 = 'asdf';
var_dump($foo->__toArray());)
See example http://3v4l.org/OnVkf
This is the fastest way I have found to convert object to array. Works with Capsule as well.
function objectToArray ($object) {
return json_decode(json_encode($object, JSON_FORCE_OBJECT), true);
}

Eclipse doesn't resolve object type in php array

I came from Java world and try the same "easy" things in Php.
I have a immutable dummy data object:
class BugTimeData {
private $bugid = "";
private $startDate = "";
private $resolvedDate = "";
private $status = "";
private $weekends = "";
function __construct($bugid, $startDate, $resolvedDate, $status) {
$this->bugid = $bugid;
$this->startDate = $startDate;
$this->resolvedDate = $resolvedDate;
$this->status = $status;
}
function getBugId() {
return $this->bugid;
}
function getStartDate() {
return $this->startDate;
}
function getResolvedDate() {
return $this->resolvedDate;
}
function getStatus() {
return $this->status;
}
function getWeekendsBetween() {
return $this->weekends;
}
}
A add a object from this class into an array:
$data= new BugTimeData($a, $b, $c, $d);
array_push($content, $data);
I want to iterate over this array, read out objects and access their methods:
foreach($time_prio_bug_content as $key => $value) {
var_dump($value->getStatus());
}
This works! But my IDE (Eclipse) does not really know that $value is from type BugTimeData. So I cannot access public methods in a easy way.
Question:
How to cast $value to a object from type BugTimeData?
In Java this is really easy (because I do not need a cast because I can define the type of the objects when creating an array) and straight forward. So I wonder why this is not possible in Php?
It's just a problem of your IDE, not of PHP. If you add the appropriate annotation type hints, any decent IDE will pick up on it. For instance, define that the array contains objects of a certain type:
/** #var BugTimeData[] $array */
$array = array();
If the data comes from a function or method, add an appropriate #return documentation tag to the method's signature. Worst case, mark the variable inside the loop:
foreach($time_prio_bug_content as $key => $value) {
/** #var BugTimeData $value */
var_dump($value->getStatus());
}
As an alternative to Annotation I believe you can type hint as such:
var $value = new BugTimeData; // this tells the IDE which type the variable will hold from here on
foreach($time_prio_bug_content as $key => $value) {
var_dump($value->getStatus());
}
or implement a class method for the cast with type hinting the argument and return object (see link)
You can't. Because PHP is practically typeless, and when reading code there's no way to know what type a certain variable is. It is only possible during runtime.

PHP Cloning Children

I have an object that is a somewhat basic tree. I needed to make a deep copy of it and found myself implementing the __clone method. The successful code is:
function __clone() {
$object = new CustomXML($this->rootElement);
foreach ($this->elements as $key => $element) {
$this->elements[$key] = clone $this->elements[$key];
$object->elements[$key] = $this->elements[$key];
}
$object->attributes = $this->attributes;
$object->value = $this->value;
$object->allowHTML = $this->allowHTML;
$object->endTag = $this->endTag;
$object->styles = $this->styles;
$object->childID = $this->childID;
return $object;
}
My question is... Why do I have to use
$this->elements[$key] = clone $this->elements[$key];
$object->elements[$key] = $this->elements[$key];
Why can't I just use
$object->elements[$key] = clone $this->elements[$key];
Using the second one still leaves a reference to the children. Why is this? The values in $this->elements are of the same class.
__clone() is invoked on an already-created shallow copy of an object. See the documentation
PHP will shallow-copy all properties and create a new object without calling its constructor (similar to serialization and deserialization). Then PHP calls __clone() on the new object so you can modify it according to your whims. Because it modifies the object, it should not return anything.
Your code (if you always want a deep copy) should look like this:
function __clone() {
foreach ($this->children as $key => $child) {
$this->children[$key] = clone $this->children[$key];
}
}
However I strongly recommend that you do not do this! Instead of relying on the clone keyword, add methods to return cloned objects explicitly (e.g., DOMNode::cloneNode(). This will, for example, let you control whether your copies should be shallow or deep. If you just use clone you cannot control this.
Here is an example:
interface DeepCopyable
{
/**
* Return a copy of the current object
*
* #param $deep bool If TRUE, return a deep copy
* #return object
*/
public function copy($deep=false);
}
class TreeNode implements DeepCopyable
{
private $I_AM_A_CLONE = false;
protected $children = array();
function __clone() {
$this->I_AM_A_CLONE = true;
}
public function addChild(Copyable $child) {
$this->children[] = $child;
}
public function copy($deep=false) {
$copy = clone $this;
if ($deep) {
foreach ($this->children as $n => $child) {
$copy->children[$n] = $child->copy($deep);
}
}
return $copy;
}
}
$a = new TreeNode();
$a->addChild(new TreeNode());
var_dump($a);
var_dump($a->copy());
var_dump($a->copy(true));
This example also illustrates the proper use of __clone(). You need to add a clone magic method when a private or protected property of the cloned object should not be identical to the original. For example, if you have an id property on an object which should be unique, you may want to ensure that a clone will not have the same ID and you never ever want calling code to control that. Or a "dirty" flag, or whatever.
After a long review of this, I created a test scenario and realized that I was not understanding the clone method at all.
Consider this example code:
<?php
class A {
function __construct($value = "1") {
$this->value = $value;
$this->children = array();
}
function addChild() {
$this->children[] = new A(count($this->children));
}
function __clone() {
foreach ($this->children as $key => $child) {
$this->children[$key] = clone $this->children[$key];
//$object->children[$key] = clone $this->children[$key];
}
}
}
$a = new A();
$a->addChild();
$b = clone $a;
var_dump($b);
$b->value = "test";
$b->children[0]->value = "test2";
var_dump($a);
var_dump($b);
The clone method is being called on $b, not on $a. So essentially, calling $this->children[$key] = clone $this->children[$key]; is breaking the reference. Returning a value is pointless here. In summary, my code should have looked like this:
foreach ($this->elements as $key => $element) {
$this->elements[$key] = clone $this->elements[$key];
}
You might say that calling $b = clone $a; is equivalent to doing:
$b = $a;
$b->__clone();

PHP lazy array mapping

Is there a way of doing array_map but as an iterator?
For example:
foreach (new MapIterator($array, $function) as $value)
{
if ($value == $required)
break;
}
The reason to do this is that $function is hard to calculate and $array has too many elements, only need to map until I find a specific value. array_map will calculate all values before I can search for the one I want.
I could implement the iterator myself, but I want to know if there is a native way of doing this. I couldn't find anything searching PHP documentation.
In short: No.
There is no lazy iterator mapping built into PHP. There is a non-lazy function iterator_apply(), but nothing like what you are after.
You could write one yourself, as you said. I suggest you extend IteratorIterator and simply override the current() method.
If there were such a thing it would either be documented here or here.
This is a lazy collection map function that gives you back an Iterator:
/**
* #param array|Iterator $collection
* #param callable $function
* #return Iterator
*/
function collection_map( $collection, callable $function ) {
foreach( $collection as $element ) {
yield $function( $element );
}
}
I'm thinking of a simple Map class implementation which uses an array of keys and an array of values. The overall implementation could be used like Java's Iterator class whereas you'd iterate through it like:
while ($map->hasNext()) {
$value = $map->next();
...
}
foreach ($array as $key => $value) {
if ($value === $required) {
break;
} else {
$array[$key] = call_back_function($value);
}
}
process and iterate until required value is found.
Don't bother with an iterator, is the answer:
foreach ($array as $origValue)
{
$value = $function($origValue);
if ($value == $required)
break;
}
I wrote this class to use a callback for that purpose. Usage:
$array = new ArrayIterator(array(1,2,3,4,5));
$doubles = new ModifyIterator($array, function($x) { return $x * 2; });
Definition (feel free to modify for your need):
class ModifyIterator implements Iterator {
/**
* #var Iterator
*/
protected $iterator;
/**
* #var callable Modifies the current item in iterator
*/
protected $callable;
/**
* #param $iterator Iterator|array
* #param $callable callable This can have two parameters
* #throws Exception
*/
public function __construct($iterator, $callable) {
if (is_array($iterator)) {
$this->iterator = new ArrayIterator($iterator);
}
elseif (!($iterator instanceof Iterator))
{
throw new Exception("iterator must be instance of Iterator");
}
else
{
$this->iterator = $iterator;
}
if (!is_callable($callable)) {
throw new Exception("callable must be a closure");
}
if ($callable instanceof Closure) {
// make sure there's one argument
$reflection = new ReflectionObject($callable);
if ($reflection->hasMethod('__invoke')) {
$method = $reflection->getMethod('__invoke');
if ($method->getNumberOfParameters() !== 1) {
throw new Exception("callable must have only one parameter");
}
}
}
$this->callable = $callable;
}
/**
* Alters the current item with $this->callable and returns a new item.
* Be careful with your types as we can't do static type checking here!
* #return mixed
*/
public function current()
{
$callable = $this->callable;
return $callable($this->iterator->current());
}
public function next()
{
$this->iterator->next();
}
public function key()
{
return $this->iterator->key();
}
public function valid()
{
return $this->iterator->valid();
}
public function rewind()
{
$this->iterator->rewind();
}
}
PHP's iterators are quite cumbersome to use, especially if deep nesting is required. LINQ, which implements SQL-like queries for arrays and objects, is better suited for this, because it allows easy method chaining and is lazy through and through. One of the libraries implementing it is YaLinqo*. With it, you can perform mapping and filtering like this:
// $array can be an array or \Traversible. If it's an iterator, it is traversed lazily.
$is_value_in_array = from($array)->contains(2);
// where is like array_filter, but lazy. It'll be called only until the value is found.
$is_value_in_filtered_array = from($array)->where($slow_filter_function)->contains(2);
// select is like array_map, but lazy.
$is_value_in_mapped_array = from($array)->select($slow_map_function)->contains(2);
// first function returns the first value which satisfies a condition.
$first_matching_value = from($array)->first($slow_filter_function);
// equivalent code
$first_matching_value = from($array)->where($slow_filter_function)->first();
There're many more functions, over 70 overall.
* developed by me
Have a look at Non-standard PHP library. It has a lazy map function:
use function \nspl\a\lazy\map;
$heavyComputation = function($value) { /* ... */ };
$iterator = map($heavyComputation, $list);

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