Rowcast

Lightweight DataMapper over PDO for PHP 8.4+ with DTO hydration and type casting.

What is Rowcast?

Rowcast is a modern, zero-dependency DataMapper for PHP 8.4+. It maps database rows to plain DTO objects and back using Reflection, with automatic type casting, naming convention support, and a fluent query builder.

Key Highlights

Zero external dependencies — Only PHP 8.4 and the PDO extension required
Automatic DTO mapping — Database rows hydrated to typed PHP objects via Reflection
Type casting — Automatic conversion between PHP and database types (DateTime, BackedEnum, scalars)
Two mapping modes — Auto mode with conventions or Explicit mode with Mapping
Fluent query builder — Build complex SQL queries with a chainable API
Snake-to-camel conversion — snake_case columns map to camelCase properties by default
Nested transactions — Savepoint-based transaction nesting support
PHPStan Level 9 — Fully statically analyzed codebase

Quick Example

use AsceticSoft\Rowcast\Connection;
use AsceticSoft\Rowcast\DataMapper;

// Define a DTO
class User
{
    public int $id;
    public string $name;
    public string $email;
}

// Connect and create a mapper
$connection = Connection::create('mysql:host=localhost;dbname=app', 'root', 'secret');
$mapper = new DataMapper($connection);

// Insert
$user = new User();
$user->name = 'Alice';
$user->email = 'alice@example.com';
$mapper->insert('users', $user);

// Find
$user = $mapper->findOne(User::class, ['id' => 1]);

That’s it. A few lines to get a fully working DataMapper with automatic type casting and DTO hydration.

Why Rowcast?

Feature	Rowcast	Traditional ORMs
Zero external dependencies	Yes	Often many
Plain DTO objects (no base class)	Yes	Requires entity base
Automatic type casting	Yes	Manual or annotations
Convention-based mapping	Yes	Configuration files
Fluent query builder	Yes	Yes
Nested transactions (savepoints)	Yes	Some
PHPStan Level 9	Yes	Varies
Learning curve	Minimal	Steep