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YAML-based data fixtures.
- Available as Composer package eloquent/dumpling.
- API documentation available.
Fixie is a format for storing tabular data. It blends the strengths of YAML and CSV to produce a syntax that is well suited for both human and machine readers.
The Fixie syntax is actually a subset of YAML 1.2, meaning that any given example of Fixie syntax is also perfectly valid YAML. Unlike free-form YAML however, all Fixie variants can be read row-by-row, which allows for minimal memory usage when reading large amounts of data.
The default style, recommended for data sets of any size.
columns:
[name, symbol, number, weight, metallic, group ]
data: [
[Hydrogen, H, 1, 1.00794, false, null ],
[Helium, He, 2, 4.002602, false, 'Noble gas' ],
[Lithium, Li, 3, 6.941, true, 'Alkali metal' ],
[Beryllium, Be, 4, 9.012182, true, 'Alkaline earth metal'],
[Boron, B, 5, 10.811, true, null ],
[Carbon, C, 6, 12.0107, false, null ],
[Nitrogen, N, 7, 14.0067, false, Pnictogen ],
[Oxygen, O, 8, 15.9994, false, Chalcogen ],
[Fluorine, F, 9, 18.9984032, false, Halogen ],
[Neon, Ne, 10, 20.1797, false, 'Noble gas' ],
]This style is useful for small data sets where a more vertical layout improves human readability.
- name: Hydrogen
symbol: H
number: 1
weight: 1.00794
metallic: false
group: null
- name: Helium
symbol: He
number: 2
weight: 4.002602
metallic: false
group: 'Noble gas'
- name: Lithium
symbol: Li
number: 3
weight: 6.941
metallic: true
group: 'Alkali metal'
- name: Beryllium
symbol: Be
number: 4
weight: 9.012182
metallic: true
group: 'Alkaline earth metal'
- name: Boron
symbol: B
number: 5
weight: 10.811
metallic: true
group: null
- name: Carbon
symbol: C
number: 6
weight: 12.0107
metallic: false
group: null
- name: Nitrogen
symbol: N
number: 7
weight: 14.0067
metallic: false
group: Pnictogen
- name: Oxygen
symbol: O
number: 8
weight: 15.9994
metallic: false
group: Chalcogen
- name: Fluorine
symbol: F
number: 9
weight: 18.9984032
metallic: false
group: Halogen
- name: Neon
symbol: Ne
number: 10
weight: 20.1797
metallic: false
group: 'Noble gas'Fixie implements multiple output styles. In addition to the 'aligned' output styles above, there are non-aligned variants of both compact and expanded styles that reduce file size at the cost of reduced human readability.
The FixtureWriter class takes, as its first constructor parameter, a class
name to use when opening a file or stream for writing. The options available
are (in the Eloquent\Fixie\Writer namespace):
This variant will buffer up to an approximate given data size (defaults to 10MiB). If the data written is within the size limit, the output will be that produced by the AlignedCompactFixtureWriteHandle. If the size limit is exceeded, this variant will switch to unbuffered output using the CompactFixtureWriteHandle.
This is the default variant used by Fixie, as it offers the best compromise between memory usage and human readability.
Writes rows in the 'compact' style, and keeps column headers and row values aligned with each other. This style is excellent for human readability but poor for large data sets as the data must be buffered in memory. Unless the maximum data size is known in advance, it is recommended to use the SwitchingCompactFixtureWriteHandle instead.
Writes rows in the 'compact' style, using the minimal amount of whitespace. This variant is excellent for any data size, but is not as good for human readability as other options. If human readability is not an issue, use this variant.
Writes rows in the 'expanded' style, and aligns row values. A versatile variant that produces a much more vertically elongated output. Good for both human readability and memory usage.
Writes rows in the 'expanded' style, but does not align row values. Only useful if the data should be output in a similar way to typical YAML renderers.
use Eloquent\Fixie\Reader\FixtureReader;
use Eloquent\Fixie\Writer\FixtureWriter;
$writer = new FixtureWriter;
$reader = new FixtureReader;
// some tabular data
$data = array(
array('foo' => 'bar', 'baz' => 'qux'),
array('foo' => 'doom', 'baz' => 'splat'),
);$handle = $writer->openFile('/path/to/file');
foreach ($data as $row) {
$handle->write($row);
}
$handle->close();$handle = $writer->openFile('/path/to/file');
$handle->writeAll($data);
$handle->close();$handle = $reader->openFile('/path/to/file');
$data = array();
foreach ($handle as $row) {
$data[] = $row;
}
$handle->close();$handle = $reader->openFile('/path/to/file');
$data = $handle->readAll();
$handle->close();$handle = $reader->openFile('/path/to/file');
$row = $handle->read();
if (null !== $row){
// some custom logic
}
$handle->close();$stream = fopen('php://temp', 'wb');
$handle = $writer->openStream($stream);$stream = fopen('data://text/plain;base64,LSBmb28NCi0gYmFy', 'rb');
$handle = $reader->openStream($stream);- Excellent for machine reading. Row-by-row reading means low memory use.
- No support for types. Every value is a string.
- Human readability is poor, especially with row values of differing lengths.
- String encoding support is unpredictable across implementations. This makes it a poor choice for multilingual data.
- Type support. Strings, integers, floating-point values, booleans and nulls are all supported.
- Very human-readable when formatted correctly.
- Good string encoding support.
- Entire file must be read and parsed in one go. Memory usage scales with data size.
- Excellent for machine reading. Row-by-row reading means low memory use.
- Type support. Strings, integers, floating-point values, booleans and nulls are all supported.
- Very human-readable when formatted correctly.
- Good string encoding support.