update var_object to be a filter similar to other types

Author: ArnabChatterjee20k

src/Database/Database.php

@@ -68,6 +68,13 @@ class Database
         self::VAR_POLYGON
     ];
 
+    // All types which requires filters
+    public const ATTRIBUTE_FILTER_TYPES = [
+        ...self::SPATIAL_TYPES,
+        self::VAR_VECTOR,
+        self::VAR_OBJECT,
+    ];
+
     // Index Types
     public const INDEX_KEY = 'key';
     public const INDEX_FULLTEXT = 'fulltext';
@@ -622,6 +629,35 @@ function (?string $value) {
                 return is_array($decoded) ? $decoded : $value;
             }
         );
+
+        self::addFilter(
+            Database::VAR_OBJECT,
+            /**
+             * @param mixed $value
+             * @return mixed
+             */
+            function (mixed $value) {
+                if (!\is_array($value)) {
+                    return $value;
+                }
+
+                return \json_encode($value);
+            },
+            /**
+             * @param string|null $value
+             * @return array|null
+             */
+            function (?string $value) {
+                if (is_null($value)) {
+                    return null;
+                }
+                if (!is_string($value)) {
+                    return $value;
+                }
+                $decoded = json_decode($value, true);
+                return is_array($decoded) ? $decoded : $value;
+            }
+        );
     }
 
     /**
@@ -1438,7 +1474,7 @@ public function delete(?string $database = null): bool
     public function createCollection(string $id, array $attributes = [], array $indexes = [], ?array $permissions = null, bool $documentSecurity = true): Document
     {
         foreach ($attributes as &$attribute) {
-            if (in_array($attribute['type'], Database::SPATIAL_TYPES) || $attribute['type'] === Database::VAR_VECTOR) {
+            if (in_array($attribute['type'], self::ATTRIBUTE_FILTER_TYPES)) {
                 $existingFilters = $attribute['filters'] ?? [];
                 if (!is_array($existingFilters)) {
                     $existingFilters = [$existingFilters];
@@ -1811,11 +1847,8 @@ public function createAttribute(string $collection, string $id, string $type, in
         if ($collection->isEmpty()) {
             throw new NotFoundException('Collection not found');
         }
-        if (in_array($type, Database::SPATIAL_TYPES)) {
-            $filters[] = $type;
-            $filters = array_unique($filters);
-        }
-        if ($type === Database::VAR_VECTOR) {
+
+        if (in_array($type, self::ATTRIBUTE_FILTER_TYPES)) {
             $filters[] = $type;
             $filters = array_unique($filters);
         }
@@ -2138,6 +2171,9 @@ private function validateAttribute(
                 if ($this->adapter->getSupportForSpatialAttributes()) {
                     \array_push($supportedTypes, ...self::SPATIAL_TYPES);
                 }
+                if ($this->adapter->getSupportForObject()) {
+                    $supportedTypes[] = self::VAR_OBJECT;
+                }
                 throw new DatabaseException('Unknown attribute type: ' . $type . '. Must be one of ' . implode(', ', $supportedTypes));
         }
 
@@ -7729,12 +7765,6 @@ public function casting(Document $collection, Document $document): Document
                     case self::VAR_FLOAT:
                         $node = (float)$node;
                         break;
-                    case self::VAR_OBJECT:
-                        // Decode JSONB string to array
-                        if (is_string($node)) {
-                            $node = json_decode($node, true);
-                        }
-                        break;
                     default:
                         break;
                 }

src/Database/Validator/ObjectValidator.php

@@ -21,7 +21,14 @@ public function getDescription(): string
      */
     public function isValid(mixed $value): bool
     {
-        return empty($value) || is_array($value) && !array_is_list($value);
+        if (is_string($value)) {
+            // Check if it's valid JSON
+            json_decode($value);
+            return json_last_error() === JSON_ERROR_NONE;
+        }
+
+        // Allow empty or associative arrays (non-list)
+        return empty($value) || (is_array($value) && !array_is_list($value));
     }
 
     /**