php - Get (overloaded) array values set using __set as class properties when returning the object

one text

I has an attributes array in the model. I am setting it's values using __set and have __get implemented to return values from it. Like so:

protected $attributes = [];

public function __set($key, $val){
 $this->attributes[$key] = $val;
}

public function __get($key){
 return $this->attributes[$key] ?? throw new Exception("attribute not found");
}

Now when I do this:

$object = new Model;
$object->name = "Model name";
$object->some_other_prop = "some other prop";
return ["data" => $object];

I want the result to be:

"data" : {
  "name" : "Model name",
  "some_other_prop" : "Some other prop",
}

I have tried __toString method, by returning a json_encoded attributes array, but when assigned to data, it returns an empty object.

This is the result I am getting:

"data" : {}

I am trying to learn implementing an active record style model, and I know this is possible in Laravel. I have gone through Laravel's code base and I could not figure out how they did this.

Any help will be appreciated.