function serialize (mixed_value) {
  var _getType = function (inp) {
        var type = typeof inp, match;
        var key;
        if (type == 'object' && !inp) {            return 'null';
        }
        if (type == "object") {
            if (!inp.constructor) {
                return 'object';            }
            var cons = inp.constructor.toString();
            match = cons.match(/(\w+)\(/);
            if (match) {
                cons = match[1].toLowerCase();            }
            var types = ["boolean", "number", "string", "array"];
            for (key in types) {
                if (cons == types[key]) {
                    type = types[key];                    break;
                }
            }
        }
        return type;    };
    var type = _getType(mixed_value);
    var val, ktype = '';
    
    switch (type) {        case "function": 
            val = ""; 
            break;
        case "boolean":
            val = "b:" + (mixed_value ? "1" : "0");            break;
        case "number":
            val = (Math.round(mixed_value) == mixed_value ? "i" : "d") + ":" + mixed_value;
            break;
        case "string":            mixed_value = this.utf8_encode(mixed_value);
            val = "s:" + encodeURIComponent(mixed_value).replace(/%../g, 'x').length + ":\"" + mixed_value + "\"";
            break;
        case "array":
        case "object":            val = "a";
            /*
            if (type == "object") {
                var objname = mixed_value.constructor.toString().match(/(\w+)\(\)/);
                if (objname == undefined) {                    return;
                }
                objname[1] = this.serialize(objname[1]);
                val = "O" + objname[1].substring(1, objname[1].length - 1);
            }            */
            var count = 0;
            var vals = "";
            var okey;
            var key;            for (key in mixed_value) {
                ktype = _getType(mixed_value[key]);
                if (ktype == "function") { 
                    continue; 
                }                
                okey = (key.match(/^[0-9]+$/) ? parseInt(key, 10) : key);
                vals += this.serialize(okey) +
                        this.serialize(mixed_value[key]);
                count++;            }
            val += ":" + count + ":{" + vals + "}";
            break;
        case "undefined": // Fall-through
        default: // if the JS object has a property which contains a null value, the string cannot be unserialized by PHP            val = "N";
            break;
    }
    if (type != "object" && type != "array") {
        val += ";";    }
    return val;
}


/*
function unserialize (data) {
	
    // Takes a string representation of variable and recreates it  
    // 
    // version: 1006.1915
    // discuss at: http://phpjs.org/functions/unserialize    // +     original by: Arpad Ray (mailto:arpad@php.net)
    // +     improved by: Pedro Tainha (http://www.pedrotainha.com)
    // +     bugfixed by: dptr1988
    // +      revised by: d3x
    // +     improved by: Kevin van Zonneveld (http://kevin.vanzonneveld.net)    // +        input by: Brett Zamir (http://brett-zamir.me)
    // +     improved by: Kevin van Zonneveld (http://kevin.vanzonneveld.net)
    // +     improved by: Chris
    // +     improved by: James
    // +        input by: Martin (http://www.erlenwiese.de/)    // +     bugfixed by: Kevin van Zonneveld (http://kevin.vanzonneveld.net)
    // +     improved by: Le Torbi
    // +     input by: kilops
    // +     bugfixed by: Brett Zamir (http://brett-zamir.me)
    // -      depends on: utf8_decode    // %            note: We feel the main purpose of this function should be to ease the transport of data between php & js
    // %            note: Aiming for PHP-compatibility, we have to translate objects to arrays
    // *       example 1: unserialize('a:3:{i:0;s:5:"Kevin";i:1;s:3:"van";i:2;s:9:"Zonneveld";}');
    // *       returns 1: ['Kevin', 'van', 'Zonneveld']
    // *       example 2: unserialize('a:3:{s:9:"firstName";s:5:"Kevin";s:7:"midName";s:3:"van";s:7:"surName";s:9:"Zonneveld";}');    // *       returns 2: {firstName: 'Kevin', midName: 'van', surName: 'Zonneveld'}
    var that = this;
    var utf8Overhead = function(chr) {
        // http://phpjs.org/functions/unserialize:571#comment_95906
        var code = chr.charCodeAt(0);        if (code < 0x0080) {
            return 0;
        }
        if (code < 0x0800) {
             return 1;        }
        return 2;
    };
	
    var error = function (type, msg, filename, line){throw new that.window[type](msg, filename, line);};
    var read_until = function (data, offset, stopchr){
        var buf = [];
        var chr = data.slice(offset, offset + 1);
        var i = 2;        while (chr != stopchr) {
            if ((i+offset) > data.length) {
                error('Error', 'Invalid');
            }
            buf.push(chr);            chr = data.slice(offset + (i - 1),offset + i);
            i += 1;
        }
        return [buf.length, buf.join('')];
    };    var read_chrs = function (data, offset, length){
        var buf;
 
        buf = [];
        for (var i = 0;i < length;i++){            var chr = data.slice(offset + (i - 1),offset + i);
            buf.push(chr);
            length -= utf8Overhead(chr); 
        }
        return [buf.length, buf.join('')];    };
    var _unserialize = function (data, offset){
        var readdata;
        var readData;
        var chrs = 0;        var ccount;
        var stringlength;
        var keyandchrs;
        var keys;
         if (!offset) {offset = 0;}
        var dtype = (data.slice(offset, offset + 1)).toLowerCase();
 
        var dataoffset = offset + 2;
        var typeconvert = function(x) {return x;}; 
        switch (dtype){
            case 'i':
                typeconvert = function (x) {return parseInt(x, 10);};
                readData = read_until(data, dataoffset, ';');                chrs = readData[0];
                readdata = readData[1];
                dataoffset += chrs + 1;
            break;
            case 'b':                typeconvert = function (x) {return parseInt(x, 10) !== 0;};
                readData = read_until(data, dataoffset, ';');
                chrs = readData[0];
                readdata = readData[1];
                dataoffset += chrs + 1;            break;
            case 'd':
                typeconvert = function (x) {return parseFloat(x);};
                readData = read_until(data, dataoffset, ';');
                chrs = readData[0];                readdata = readData[1];
                dataoffset += chrs + 1;
            break;
            case 'n':
                readdata = null;            break;
            case 's':
                ccount = read_until(data, dataoffset, ':');
                chrs = ccount[0];
                stringlength = ccount[1];                dataoffset += chrs + 2;
 
                readData = read_chrs(data, dataoffset+1, parseInt(stringlength, 10));
                chrs = readData[0];
                readdata = readData[1];                dataoffset += chrs + 2;
                if (chrs != parseInt(stringlength, 10) && chrs != readdata.length){
                    error('SyntaxError', 'String length mismatch');
                }
                 // Length was calculated on an utf-8 encoded string
                // so wait with decoding
                //readdata = that.utf8_decode(readdata);
            break;
            case 'a':                readdata = {};
 
                keyandchrs = read_until(data, dataoffset, ':');
                chrs = keyandchrs[0];
                keys = keyandchrs[1];                dataoffset += chrs + 2;
 
                for (var i = 0; i < parseInt(keys, 10); i++){
                    var kprops = _unserialize(data, dataoffset);
                    var kchrs = kprops[1];                    var key = kprops[2];
                    dataoffset += kchrs;
 
                    var vprops = _unserialize(data, dataoffset);
                    var vchrs = vprops[1];                    var value = vprops[2];
                    dataoffset += vchrs;
 
                    readdata[key] = value;
                } 
                dataoffset += 1;
            break;
            default:
                error('SyntaxError', 'Unknown / Unhandled data type(s): ' + dtype);            break;
        }
        return [dtype, dataoffset - offset, typeconvert(readdata)];
    };
		
        return _unserialize((data+''), 0)[2];
}
*/
function unserialize ( inp ) {	// Creates a PHP value from a stored representation
	// 
	// +   original by: Arpad Ray (mailto:arpad@php.net)

	error = 0;
	if (inp == "" || inp.length < 2) {
		errormsg = "input is too short";
		return;
	}
	var val, kret, vret, cval;
	var type = inp.charAt(0);
	var cont = inp.substring(2);
	var size = 0, divpos = 0, endcont = 0, rest = "", next = "";

	switch (type) {
	case "N": // null
		if (inp.charAt(1) != ";") {
			errormsg = "missing ; for null";
		}
		// leave val undefined
		rest = cont;
		break;
	case "b": // boolean
		if (!/[01];/.test(cont.substring(0,2))) {
			errormsg = "value not 0 or 1, or missing ; for boolean";
		}
		val = (cont.charAt(0) == "1");
		rest = cont.substring(1);
		break;
	case "s": // string
		val = "";
		divpos = cont.indexOf(":");
		if (divpos == -1) {
			errormsg = "missing : for string";
			break;
		}
		size = parseInt(cont.substring(0, divpos));
		if (size == 0) {
			if (cont.length - divpos < 4) {
				errormsg = "string is too short";
				break;
			}
			rest = cont.substring(divpos + 4);
			break;
		}
		if ((cont.length - divpos - size) < 4) {
			errormsg = "string is too short";
			break;
		}
		if (cont.substring(divpos + 2 + size, divpos + 4 + size) != "\";") {
			errormsg = "string is too long, or missing \";";
		}
		val = cont.substring(divpos + 2, divpos + 2 + size);
		rest = cont.substring(divpos + 4 + size);
		break;
	case "i": // integer
	case "d": // float
		var dotfound = 0;
		for (var i = 0; i < cont.length; i++) {
			cval = cont.charAt(i);
			if (isNaN(parseInt(cval)) && !(type == "d" && cval == "." && !dotfound++)) {
				endcont = i;
				break;
			}
		}
		if (!endcont || cont.charAt(endcont) != ";") {
			errormsg = "missing or invalid value, or missing ; for int/float";
		}
		val = cont.substring(0, endcont);
		val = (type == "i" ? parseInt(val) : parseFloat(val));
		rest = cont.substring(endcont + 1);
		break;
	case "a": // array
		if (cont.length < 4) {
			errormsg = "array is too short";
			return;
		}
		divpos = cont.indexOf(":", 1);
		if (divpos == -1) {
			errormsg = "missing : for array";
			return;
		}
		size = parseInt(cont.substring(1, divpos - 1));
		cont = cont.substring(divpos + 2);
		val = new Array();
		if (cont.length < 1) {
			errormsg = "array is too short";
			return;
		}
		for (var i = 0; i + 1 < size * 2; i += 2) {
			kret = unserialize(cont, 1);
			if (error || kret[0] == undefined || kret[1] == "") {
				errormsg = "missing or invalid key, or missing value for array";
				return;
			}
			vret = unserialize(kret[1], 1);
			if (error) {
				errormsg = "invalid value for array";
				return;
			}
			val[kret[0]] = vret[0];
			cont = vret[1];
		}
		if (cont.charAt(0) != "}") {
			errormsg = "missing ending }, or too many values for array";
			return;
		}
		rest = cont.substring(1);
		break;
	case "O": // object
		divpos = cont.indexOf(":");
		if (divpos == -1) {
			errormsg = "missing : for object";
			return;
		}
		size = parseInt(cont.substring(0, divpos));
		var objname = cont.substring(divpos + 2, divpos + 2 + size);
		if (cont.substring(divpos + 2 + size, divpos + 4 + size) != "\":") {
			errormsg = "object name is too long, or missing \":";
			return;
		}
		var objprops = unserialize("a:" + cont.substring(divpos + 4 + size), 1);
		if (error) {
			errormsg = "invalid object properties";
			return;
		}
		rest = objprops[1];
		var objout = "function " + objname + "(){";
		for (key in objprops[0]) {
			objout += "" + key + "=objprops[0]['" + key + "'];";
		}
		objout += "}val=new " + objname + "();";
		eval(objout);
		break;
	default:
		errormsg = "invalid input type";
	}
	return (arguments.length == 1 ? val : [val, rest]);
}