4.2. PHPlot Object Serialization

4.2. PHPlot Object Serialization
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This section contains information about serializing and unserializing a PHPlot object.

Serializing a PHP variable, array, or object with the PHP function serialize() generates a string representation of the value which can be stored or transmitted. Unserialization with the PHP function unserialize() re-creates the variable, array, or object from the string representation.

Starting with PHPlot-5.8.0, PHPlot objects can be serialized and unserialized, subject to these limitations:

A PHPlot object can only be serialized until DrawGraph is used. However, you can serialize the object, then call DrawGraph, if you want both the serialization and the actual plot.
Serialization and unserialization will not work when an input file is specified in the PHPlot or PHPlot_truecolor constructors. Consider using SetBgImage instead.
You must serialize and unserialize with the exact same version of PHPlot.

Here is an example of serializing a PHPlot object:

require_once 'phplot.php';
$plot = new PHPlot(800, 600);
... // Configure the PHPlot object: Set plot type, data values, etc.
// Do not use DrawGraph (yet)
$str = serialize($plot);

The corresponding unserialization looks like this:

require_once 'phplot.php';
$newplot = unserialize($str);
// You can do additional plot setup here if desired.
$newplot->DrawGraph(); // Draw it