How should I include an external php file in magento module?

Question

I am creating some magento module, and I need to use some 3rdParty classes "ThiredPartyClassA" and "ThiredPartyClassB" that are in an external file "thirdPartyCode.php".

where should I place the file thirdPartyCode.php ? and how should I refer (require_once) to if so that I can use it within one of my Action handlers ?

Thanks, Eyal

epeleg · Accepted Answer · 2010-12-23 08:14:54Z

14

I ended up creating a lib directory under my modules main directory. It seemed to be the "best of both worlds".

$ExternalLibPath=Mage::getModuleDir('', 'My_Module') . DS . 'lib' . DS .'EXTERNALLIB.php';
require_once ($ExternalLibPath);

edited Dec 23, 2010 at 8:14

answered Dec 23, 2010 at 8:05

epeleg

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2 Comments

Marek Over a year ago

Problem of that approach is the setup:di:compile command will run EXTERNALLIB.php file during installation and if this file generates any output it will break the compile process and crash the store.

Tropicalista Over a year ago

So what's the best solution?

Joe Mastey · Accepted Answer · 2010-12-21 21:34:09Z

4

You can require files in PHP just as you could without Magento, so you can actually use require_once if need be. If you want to keep your code cleaner, you may want to put it into the /lib folder in Magento since it is a system library. I am not sure if this is in the default include path, so you may have to fiddle with the require.

For cleanliness, you may also want to make a wrapper around this code and use Magento models/helpers to manipulate them.

Hope that helps!

Thanks, Joe

answered Dec 21, 2010 at 21:34

Joe Mastey

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2 Comments

epeleg Over a year ago

I did not want to put it in the common /lib folder as it felt to me that this will be to exceed my rights as a module developer.

Joe Mastey Over a year ago

If you don't want it in lib, feel free to drop it inside of your module instead. Still, the rest of the answer stands.

Troubled Magento user · Accepted Answer · 2010-12-21 21:50:52Z

1

As with any PHP script - you're free to include files wherever you feel like.

However you might want to use the built in autoloader in Magento. I'm pretty sure Magento uses Zend for autoloading. (Either way it's available to you)

Zend, unlike Magento, have good documentation. Check it out here http://framework.zend.com/manual/en/zend.loader.autoloader.html

answered Dec 21, 2010 at 21:50

Troubled Magento user

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1 Comment

Joe Mastey Over a year ago

I've tried this before, but you end up having to port the code manually in a lot of cases, and then doing upgrades is a pain. Quarantining the code in one place and using wrappers for it has worked much better for me in the past.

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