# Class yii\behaviors\AttributeTypecastBehavior

Inheritance | yii\behaviors\AttributeTypecastBehavior » yii\base\Behavior » yii\base\BaseObject
Implements | yii\base\Configurable
Available since version | 2.0.10
Source Code | https://github.com/yiisoft/yii2/blob/master/framework/behaviors/AttributeTypecastBehavior.php

AttributeTypecastBehavior provides an ability of automatic model attribute typecasting.

This behavior is very useful in case of usage of ActiveRecord for the schema-less databases like MongoDB or Redis. It may also come in handy for regular yii\db\ActiveRecord or even yii\base\Model, allowing to maintain strict attribute types after model validation.

This behavior should be attached to yii\base\Model or yii\db\BaseActiveRecord descendant.

You should specify exact attribute types via $attributeTypes.

For example:

    use yii\behaviors\AttributeTypecastBehavior;

    class Item extends \yii\db\ActiveRecord
    {
        public function behaviors()
        {
            return [
                'typecast' => [
                    'class' => AttributeTypecastBehavior::className(),
                    'attributeTypes' => [
                        'amount' => AttributeTypecastBehavior::TYPE_INTEGER,
                        'price' => AttributeTypecastBehavior::TYPE_FLOAT,
                        'is_active' => AttributeTypecastBehavior::TYPE_BOOLEAN,
                    ],
                    'typecastAfterValidate' => true,
                    'typecastBeforeSave' => false,
                    'typecastAfterFind' => false,
                ],
            ];
        }

        // ...
    }

Tip: you may left $attributeTypes blank - in this case its value will be detected automatically based on owner validation rules. Following example will automatically create same $attributeTypes value as it was configured at the above one:

    use yii\behaviors\AttributeTypecastBehavior;

    class Item extends \yii\db\ActiveRecord
    {

        public function rules()
        {
            return [
                ['amount', 'integer'],
                ['price', 'number'],
                ['is_active', 'boolean'],
            ];
        }

        public function behaviors()
        {
            return [
                'typecast' => [
                    'class' => AttributeTypecastBehavior::className(),
                    // 'attributeTypes' will be composed automatically according to `rules()`
                ],
            ];
        }

        // ...
    }

This behavior allows automatic attribute typecasting at following cases:

- after successful model validation
- before model save (insert or update)
- after model find (found by query or refreshed)

You may control automatic typecasting for particular case using fields $typecastAfterValidate, $typecastBeforeSave and $typecastAfterFind. By default typecasting will be performed only after model validation.

Note: you can manually trigger attribute typecasting anytime invoking typecastAttributes() method:

    $model = new Item();
    $model->price = '38.5';
    $model->is_active = 1;
    $model->typecastAttributes();

## Public Properties

Hide inherited properties

Property | Type | Description | Defined By
--- | --- | --- | ---
$attributeTypes | array | Attribute typecast map in format: attributeName => type. | yii\behaviors\AttributeTypecastBehavior
$owner | yii\base\Model|yii\db\BaseActiveRecord | The owner of this behavior. | yii\behaviors\AttributeTypecastBehavior
$skipOnNull | boolean | Whether to skip typecasting of `null` values. | yii\behaviors\AttributeTypecastBehavior
$typecastAfterFind | boolean | Whether to perform typecasting after retrieving owner model data from the database (after find or refresh). | yii\behaviors\AttributeTypecastBehavior
$typecastAfterSave | boolean | Whether to perform typecasting after saving owner model (insert or update). | yii\behaviors\AttributeTypecastBehavior
$typecastAfterValidate | boolean | Whether to perform typecasting after owner model validation. | yii\behaviors\AttributeTypecastBehavior
$typecastBeforeSave | boolean | Whether to perform typecasting before saving owner model (insert or update). | yii\behaviors\AttributeTypecastBehavior

## Public Methods

Hide inherited methods

Method | Description | Defined By
--- | --- | ---
__call() | Calls the named method which is not a class method. | yii\base\BaseObject
__construct() | Constructor. | yii\base\BaseObject
__get() | Returns the value of an object property. | yii\base\BaseObject
__isset() | Checks if a property is set, i.e. defined and not null. | yii\base\BaseObject
__set() | Sets value of an object property. | yii\base\BaseObject
__unset() | Sets an object property to null. | yii\base\BaseObject
afterFind() | Handles owner 'afterFind' event, ensuring attribute typecasting. | yii\behaviors\AttributeTypecastBehavior
afterSave() | Handles owner 'afterInsert' and 'afterUpdate' events, ensuring attribute typecasting. | yii\behaviors\AttributeTypecastBehavior
afterValidate() | Handles owner 'afterValidate' event, ensuring attribute typecasting. | yii\behaviors\AttributeTypecastBehavior
attach() | Attaches the behavior object to the component. | yii\behaviors\AttributeTypecastBehavior
beforeSave() | Handles owner 'beforeInsert' and 'beforeUpdate' events, ensuring attribute typecasting. | yii\behaviors\AttributeTypecastBehavior
canGetProperty() | Returns a value indicating whether a property can be read. | yii\base\BaseObject
canSetProperty() | Returns a value indicating whether a property can be set. | yii\base\BaseObject
className() | Returns the fully qualified name of this class. | yii\base\BaseObject
clearAutoDetectedAttributeTypes() | Clears internal static cache of auto detected $attributeTypes values over all affected owner classes. | yii\behaviors\AttributeTypecastBehavior
detach() | Detaches the behavior object from the component. | yii\base\Behavior
events() | Declares event handlers for the $owner's events. | yii\behaviors\AttributeTypecastBehavior
hasMethod() | Returns a value indicating whether a method is defined. | yii\base\BaseObject
hasProperty() | Returns a value indicating whether a property is defined. | yii\base\BaseObject
init() | Initializes the object. | yii\base\BaseObject
typecastAttributes() | Typecast owner attributes according to $attributeTypes. | yii\behaviors\AttributeTypecastBehavior

## Protected Methods

Hide inherited methods

Method | Description | Defined By
--- | --- | ---
detectAttributeTypes() | Composes default value for $attributeTypes from the owner validation rules. | yii\behaviors\AttributeTypecastBehavior
typecastValue() | Casts the given value to the specified type. | yii\behaviors\AttributeTypecastBehavior

## Constants

Hide inherited constants

Constant | Value | Description | Defined By
--- | --- | --- | ---
TYPE_BOOLEAN | 'boolean' |  | yii\behaviors\AttributeTypecastBehavior
TYPE_FLOAT | 'float' |  | yii\behaviors\AttributeTypecastBehavior
TYPE_INTEGER | 'integer' |  | yii\behaviors\AttributeTypecastBehavior
TYPE_STRING | 'string' |  | yii\behaviors\AttributeTypecastBehavior

## Property Details

$attributeTypes public property

Attribute typecast map in format: attributeName => type. Type can be set via PHP callable, which accept raw value as an argument and should return typecast result. For example:

    [
        'amount' => 'integer',
        'price' => 'float',
        'is_active' => 'boolean',
        'date' => function ($value) {
            return ($value instanceof \DateTime) ? $value->getTimestamp(): (int)$value;
        },
    ]

If not set, attribute type map will be composed automatically from the owner validation rules.

public array $attributeTypes = null
$owner public property

The owner of this behavior.

public yii\base\Model|yii\db\BaseActiveRecord $owner = null
$skipOnNull public property

Whether to skip typecasting of `null` values. If enabled attribute value which equals to `null` will not be type-casted (e.g. `null` remains `null`), otherwise it will be converted according to the type configured at $attributeTypes.

public boolean $skipOnNull = true
$typecastAfterFind public property

Whether to perform typecasting after retrieving owner model data from the database (after find or refresh). This option may be disabled in order to achieve better performance. For example, in case of yii\db\ActiveRecord usage, typecasting after find will grant no benefit in most cases an thus can be disabled. Note that changing this option value will have no effect after this behavior has been attached to the model.

public boolean $typecastAfterFind = false
$typecastAfterSave public property (available since version 2.0.14)

Whether to perform typecasting after saving owner model (insert or update). This option may be disabled in order to achieve better performance. For example, in case of yii\db\ActiveRecord usage, typecasting after save will grant no benefit an thus can be disabled. Note that changing this option value will have no effect after this behavior has been attached to the model.

public boolean $typecastAfterSave = false
$typecastAfterValidate public property

Whether to perform typecasting after owner model validation. Note that typecasting will be performed only if validation was successful, e.g. owner model has no errors. Note that changing this option value will have no effect after this behavior has been attached to the model.

public boolean $typecastAfterValidate = true
$typecastBeforeSave public property

Whether to perform typecasting before saving owner model (insert or update). This option may be disabled in order to achieve better performance. For example, in case of yii\db\ActiveRecord usage, typecasting before save will grant no benefit an thus can be disabled. Note that changing this option value will have no effect after this behavior has been attached to the model.

public boolean $typecastBeforeSave = false

## Method Details

afterFind() public method

Handles owner 'afterFind' event, ensuring attribute typecasting.

public void afterFind ( $event )
$event | yii\base\Event | Event instance.

afterSave() public method (available since version 2.0.14)

Handles owner 'afterInsert' and 'afterUpdate' events, ensuring attribute typecasting.

public void afterSave ( $event )
$event | yii\base\Event | Event instance.

afterValidate() public method

Handles owner 'afterValidate' event, ensuring attribute typecasting.

public void afterValidate ( $event )
$event | yii\base\Event | Event instance.

attach() public method

Attaches the behavior object to the component.

The default implementation will set the $owner property and attach event handlers as declared in events(). Make sure you call the parent implementation if you override this method.

public void attach ( $owner )
$owner | yii\base\Component | The component that this behavior is to be attached to.

beforeSave() public method

Handles owner 'beforeInsert' and 'beforeUpdate' events, ensuring attribute typecasting.

public void beforeSave ( $event )
$event | yii\base\Event | Event instance.

clearAutoDetectedAttributeTypes() public static method

Clears internal static cache of auto detected $attributeTypes values over all affected owner classes.

public static void clearAutoDetectedAttributeTypes ( )

detectAttributeTypes() protected method

Composes default value for $attributeTypes from the owner validation rules.

protected array detectAttributeTypes ( )
return | array | Attribute type map.

events() public method

Declares event handlers for the $owner's events.

Child classes may override this method to declare what PHP callbacks should be attached to the events of the $owner component.

The callbacks will be attached to the $owner's events when the behavior is attached to the owner; and they will be detached from the events when the behavior is detached from the component.

The callbacks can be any of the following:

- method in this behavior: `'handleClick'`, equivalent to `[$this, 'handleClick']`
- object method: `[$object, 'handleClick']`
- static method: `['Page', 'handleClick']`
- anonymous function: `function ($event) { ... }`

The following is an example:

    [
        Model::EVENT_BEFORE_VALIDATE => 'myBeforeValidate',
        Model::EVENT_AFTER_VALIDATE => 'myAfterValidate',
    ]

public array events ( )
return | array | Events (array keys) and the corresponding event handler methods (array values).

typecastAttributes() public method

Typecast owner attributes according to $attributeTypes.

public void typecastAttributes ( $attributeNames = null )
$attributeNames | array | List of attribute names that should be type-casted. If this parameter is empty, it means any attribute listed in the $attributeTypes should be type-casted.

typecastValue() protected method

Casts the given value to the specified type.

protected mixed typecastValue ( $value, $type )
$value | mixed | Value to be type-casted.
$type | string|callable | Type name or typecast callable.
return | mixed | Typecast result.