`$data->filled()` throws "Object could not be converted to string" when attribute holds a non-Stringable object

[stevebauman]

Summary

DummyData::filled() (and by extension isNotFilled(), notFilled(), anyFilled()) throws a TypeError when the attribute being checked holds an object that does not implement __toString — for example a DateTime, DateTimeImmutable, or a Carbon CarbonInterface returned from Faker\Generator::dateTimeBetween().

Steps to reproduce

use DirectoryTree\Dummy\DummyData;

$data = new DummyData([
    'dateOfBirth' => new DateTime,
]);

$data->filled('dateOfBirth');

Expected behaviour

filled('dateOfBirth') returns true — the attribute holds a real, non-empty value.

Actual behaviour

A fatal error is thrown:

Error: Object of class DateTime could not be converted to string
  at vendor/directorytree/dummy/src/DummyData.php:317
  at vendor/directorytree/dummy/src/DummyData.php:157

Root cause

DummyData::isEmptyString() guards against bool and array values before casting to string, but does not guard against objects:

return ! is_bool($value)
    && ! is_array($value)
    && trim((string) $value) === '';

Any object without a __toString() method (e.g. DateTime) triggers the cast and crashes.

Impact

Affects any consumer using HasDummyFactory whose toDummyInstance() calls $attributes->filled($key) on a key produced by Faker's dateTimeBetween(), dateTime(), or any factory-defined value that is an object.

Fix

Also exclude objects from the string-coercion check in isEmptyString(); treat objects as filled.

Environment

• Package: directorytree/dummy
• PHP: 8.x