PHP中对象的自定义序列化/反序列化（如果更容易，可以使用Ruby / Perl / Java）

I would be most appreciative if anyone could provide me with some insight into deserializing and serializing PHP objects based on a not-quite-xml format. I'm not set on PHP either; I'll happily use Perl, Ruby or Java if anyone thinks that would be easier.I would be most appreciative if anyone could pr