---
title: "Phalcon Collection"
version: "4.2"
---

> Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.phalcon.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Phalcon Collection

:::info[NOTE]
All classes are prefixed with `Phalcon`
:::

## Collection 

[Source on GitHub](https://github.com/phalcon/cphalcon/blob/4.2.x/phalcon/Collection.zep)

-   __Namespace__

    - `Phalcon\Support`

-   __Uses__

    - `ArrayAccess`
    - `ArrayIterator`
    - `Countable`
    - `InvalidArgumentException`
    - `IteratorAggregate`
    - `JsonSerializable`
    - `Phalcon\Collection\CollectionInterface`
    - `Serializable`
    - `Traversable`

-   __Extends__

-   __Implements__

    - `ArrayAccess`
    - `CollectionInterface`
    - `Countable`
    - `IteratorAggregate`
    - `JsonSerializable`
    - `Serializable`

`Phalcon\Collection` is a supercharged object oriented array. It implements:
- [ArrayAccess](https://www.php.net/manual/en/class.arrayaccess.php)
- [Countable](https://www.php.net/manual/en/class.countable.php)
- [IteratorAggregate](https://www.php.net/manual/en/class.iteratoraggregate.php)
- [JsonSerializable](https://www.php.net/manual/en/class.jsonserializable.php)
- [Serializable](https://www.php.net/manual/en/class.serializable.php)

It can be used in any part of the application that needs collection of data
Such implementations are for instance accessing globals `$_GET`, `$_POST`
etc.

### Properties
```php
/**
 * @var array
 */
protected $data;

/**
 * @var bool
 */
protected $insensitive = true;

/**
 * @var array
 */
protected $lowerKeys;

```

### Methods

```php
public function __construct( array $data = [], bool $insensitive = bool );
```
Collection constructor.

```php
public function __get( string $element ): mixed;
```
Magic getter to get an element from the collection

```php
public function __isset( string $element ): bool;
```
Magic isset to check whether an element exists or not

```php
public function __set( string $element, mixed $value ): void;
```
Magic setter to assign values to an element

```php
public function __unset( string $element ): void;
```
Magic unset to remove an element from the collection

```php
public function clear(): void;
```
Clears the internal collection

```php
public function count(): int;
```
Count elements of an object.
See [count](https://php.net/manual/en/countable.count.php)

```php
public function get( string $element, mixed $defaultValue = null, string $cast = null ): mixed;
```
Get the element from the collection

```php
public function getIterator(): Traversable;
```
Returns the iterator of the class

```php
public function getKeys( bool $insensitive = bool ): array;
```
Return the keys as an array

```php
public function getValues(): array;
```
Return the values as an array

```php
public function has( string $element ): bool;
```
Determines whether an element is present in the collection.

```php
public function init( array $data = [] ): void;
```
Initialize internal array

```php
public function jsonSerialize(): array;
```
Specify data which should be serialized to JSON
See [jsonSerialize](https://php.net/manual/en/jsonserializable.jsonserialize.php)

```php
public function offsetExists( mixed $element ): bool;
```
Whether a offset exists
See [offsetExists](https://php.net/manual/en/arrayaccess.offsetexists.php)

```php
public function offsetGet( mixed $element );
```
Offset to retrieve
See [offsetGet](https://php.net/manual/en/arrayaccess.offsetget.php)

```php
public function offsetSet( mixed $element, mixed $value ): void;
```
Offset to set
See [offsetSet](https://php.net/manual/en/arrayaccess.offsetset.php)

```php
public function offsetUnset( mixed $element ): void;
```
Offset to unset
See [offsetUnset](https://php.net/manual/en/arrayaccess.offsetunset.php)

```php
public function remove( string $element ): void;
```
Delete the element from the collection

```php
public function serialize(): string;
```
String representation of object
See [serialize](https://php.net/manual/en/serializable.serialize.php)

```php
public function set( string $element, mixed $value ): void;
```
Set an element in the collection

```php
public function toArray(): array;
```
Returns the object in an array format

```php
public function toJson( int $options = int ): string;
```
Returns the object in a JSON format

The default string uses the following options for json_encode

`JSON_HEX_TAG`, `JSON_HEX_APOS`, `JSON_HEX_AMP`, `JSON_HEX_QUOT`,
`JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES`

See [rfc4627](https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4627.txt)

```php
public function unserialize( mixed $serialized ): void;
```
Constructs the object
See [unserialize](https://php.net/manual/en/serializable.unserialize.php)

```php
protected function setData( string $element, mixed $value ): void;
```
Internal method to set data

## Collection\CollectionInterface ![Interface](/assets/images/interface-blue.svg) 

[Source on GitHub](https://github.com/phalcon/cphalcon/blob/4.2.x/phalcon/Collection/CollectionInterface.zep)

-   __Namespace__

    - `Phalcon\Collection`

-   __Uses__

-   __Extends__

-   __Implements__

Phalcon\Collection\CollectionInterface

Interface for Phalcon\Collection class

### Methods

```php
public function __get( string $element ): mixed;
```

```php
public function __isset( string $element ): bool;
```

```php
public function __set( string $element, mixed $value ): void;
```

```php
public function __unset( string $element ): void;
```

```php
public function clear(): void;
```

```php
public function get( string $element, mixed $defaultValue = null, string $cast = null ): mixed;
```

```php
public function getKeys( bool $insensitive = bool ): array;
```

```php
public function getValues(): array;
```

```php
public function has( string $element ): bool;
```

```php
public function init( array $data = [] ): void;
```

```php
public function remove( string $element ): void;
```

```php
public function set( string $element, mixed $value ): void;
```

```php
public function toArray(): array;
```

```php
public function toJson( int $options = int ): string;
```

## Collection\Exception 

[Source on GitHub](https://github.com/phalcon/cphalcon/blob/4.2.x/phalcon/Collection/Exception.zep)

-   __Namespace__

    - `Phalcon\Collection`

-   __Uses__

    - `Throwable`

-   __Extends__

    `\Exception`

-   __Implements__

Exceptions for the Collection object

## Collection\ReadOnly

[Source on GitHub](https://github.com/phalcon/cphalcon/blob/4.2.x/phalcon/Collection/ReadOnly.zep)

-   __Namespace__

    - `Phalcon\Collection`

-   __Uses__

    - `Phalcon\Collection`

-   __Extends__

    `Collection`

-   __Implements__

A read only Collection object

### Methods

```php
public function remove( string $element ): void;
```
Delete the element from the collection

```php
public function set( string $element, mixed $value ): void;
```
Set an element in the collection

Source: https://docs.phalcon.io/4.2/api/phalcon_collection/index.mdx