Here's a simple function to get the class of a serialized string (that is, the type of object that will be returned if it's unserialized):
<?php
function get_serial_class($serial) {
$types = array('s' => 'string', 'a' => 'array', 'b' => 'bool', 'i' => 'int', 'd' => 'float', 'N;' => 'NULL');
$parts = explode(':', $serial, 4);
return isset($types[$parts[0]]) ? $types[$parts[0]] : trim($parts[2], '"');
}
?>
I use this when saving a serialized object to a cookie, to make sure it is the right type when I go to unserialize it.
The type names are the same format/case as you would see if you did a var_dump().
