Google's Protocol Buffers [1] seem like they may be another possible
alternative here.  The content-type in that case would be
application/x-protobuf.

The advantage here would be that the consumer wouldn't have to be
written in PHP and there's no need to know the structure of your JSON
object.

I realize that this doesn't answer your question, but that's mainly
because I don't know the answer to that question and am interested in
seeing somebody try protocol buffers.

-Ross.
[1] http://code.google.com/apis/protocolbuffers/docs/overview.html

On Tue, Dec 30, 2008 at 3:55 PM, Jonathan Rochkind <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Ah, but the transformation from some internal serialized format to iCal is
> an added level of complexity in your software, that if you are going to need
> iCal yourself eventually, you don't need.
>
> My experience shows me that using standard data formats, even between
> modules of your internal architecture, really pays off down the line, in
> many ways. Just my advice.  iCal isn't really that complicated.
>
> While there doesn't seem to be an exact standard for iCal in JSON, even
> putting iCal in JSON in your own makes-sense way would be preferable to a
> custom internal format, in my opinion. Just my opinion of course.
>
> For your original question... I still don't have an answer, except to say
> that offering serialized PHP objects on the wire seems like the wrong
> solution to me, no matter what.
>
> Jonathan
>
> Cloutman, David wrote:
>>
>> Ultimately, I probably will create a transformation to iCal, but
>> initially it isn't my goal. For internal use, I want to skip the
>> intermediate type, which really more complex than what my application or
>> Web site needs.
>> ---
>> David Cloutman <[log in to unmask]>
>> Electronic Services Librarian
>> Marin County Free Library
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
>> Jonathan Rochkind
>> Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 11:38 AM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Mime type for PHP serialized objects
>>
>>
>> If you want to publish calendar event information, you should use
>> iCal/iCalendar instead of making up your own format.
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICalendar   => text/calendar
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XCal  => application/calendar+xml
>>
>> Jonathan
>>
>>
>> Cloutman, David wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> I have a quick question for any PHP developers out there.
>>> I am writing a SOA application to manage my library's events calendar.
>>> The basic idea is to create a public API that our web site or other
>>> community organizations can use to query and consume information. I am
>>> using JSON as the default output for information, but would like to
>>>
>>
>> add
>>
>>>
>>> the option of outputting native serialized PHP data structures as
>>> created by the serialized() function.
>>>
>>> My question is, what mime type should I use for serialized PHP data?
>>>
>>
>> The
>>
>>>
>>> best suggestion I saw through Google was
>>>
>>
>> application/vnd.php.serialized,
>>
>>>
>>> which was posted as a proposal. I don't know if any standard was
>>>
>>
>> adopted
>>
>>>
>>> though. Has anyone else thought about this issue?
>>>
>>> - David
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ---
>>> David Cloutman <[log in to unmask]>
>>> Electronic Services Librarian
>>> Marin County Free Library
>>> Email Disclaimer:
>>>
>>
>> http://www.co.marin.ca.us/nav/misc/EmailDisclaimer.cfm
>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
> --
> Jonathan Rochkind
> Digital Services Software Engineer
> The Sheridan Libraries
> Johns Hopkins University
> 410.516.8886 rochkind (at) jhu.edu
>