Custom class and functions in Zend Framework

Question

i am developing a Rest Controller using Zend Framework and i have to use an external php class in one of my action methods of the controller. How can i add this class or access it from my controller action method?

Do i need to write a custom library?

In my controller action method, iam fetching the polygon information from the database. Now i have an external php class that can validate whether a point is inside the polygon.

Googling on this issue, i found that we can write custom library classes for this sake. But iam unsure about this. So i want to know how can i include this external functionality in my controller action. Please guide.

RobertPitt · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-26 13:31:32Z

5

My approach would be something like:

Rename the class to Zend_Maths_Point_Location
Create the following sub folder in zend Zend/Maths/Point
Name the file Location.php and place within the above folder
In Your controller use:

$Point = new Zend_Maths_Point_Location

This basically just integrates the class into the Zend Autoloader spec, and makes it more fluent.

You will need to follow the Zend docs carefully to make sure it slots in without any issues

answered Feb 26, 2011 at 13:31

RobertPitt

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2 Comments

Gordon Over a year ago

Since this is not a ZF component, you should not use the Zend prefix or folder for that. Prefix it with something else and then just register the prefix with the Autoloader. That prevents accidental deletion when you update the ZF library folder. It might also confuse other developers that stumble across the class and wonder why they cannot find any docs for that in the official ZF or why it is using PHP4 syntax.

shasi kanth Over a year ago

Finally this is what i did for autoloader approach. I created a folder My/Polygon inside ZendFramework/library, and created a file called: "Point.php" there. Now i renamed the class to: My_Polygon_Point and inside my controller, i accessed it like: $pointLocation = new My_Polygon_Point();

Community · Accepted Answer · 2023-11-17 19:32:19Z

4

The simplest approach would be to just include the class, e.g.

class PolygonController …
    public function someAction()
    {
        include 'path/to/class/file.php';
        $pointLocation = new pointLocation;

        // do something $pointLocation;
    }

You can probably load this file with Zend_Loader or the Autoloader as well, but since the class name does't follow the Pear/ZF naming convention, the easiest is this. It doesn't matter where you put the actual class file as long as it is accessible somehow.

Since this is a third party class, you could extend it to make it match the ZF/Pear naming convention. Then place it into your library folder, so you can use the Autoloader:

<?php
include 'path/to/class/file.php';
class My_PointLoader extends pointLoader {}

This file would be placed in APPLICATION_ROOT/lib/My/PointLoader.php

And in your bootstrap, register your "My_" namespace with

$autoloader->registerNamespace('My_');

Then you can do $pointLoader = new My_PointLoader; in your controller and the autoloader will take care of including the file.

Or, when you want to add functionality or change the API of the class, aggregate it with an Adapter, e.g.

<?php
include 'path/to/class/file.php';
class My_PointLoader_Adapter
{
    protected $_pointLoader;
    public function __construct(pointLoader $pointLoader = NULL)
    {
        if($pointLoader === NULL) {
            $pointLoader = new pointLoader;
        }
        $this->_pointLoader = new pointLoader;
    }
    public function someAdapterMethod($foo)
    {
        $this->_pointLoader->someMethodInPointLoader($foo);
    }
    // … more methods
}

Then add the namespace prefix as shown above, so the Autoloader handles inclusion.

edited Nov 17, 2023 at 19:32

CommunityBot

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answered Feb 26, 2011 at 13:25

Gordon

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5 Comments

shasi kanth Over a year ago

But where do i need to place this class file? Inside my controllers or models or views ?

Gordon Over a year ago

@hsz please point me to the ZF docs where it says: you have to use Zend_Loader. There is absolutely no reason to use all of the framework components, just because they exist.

shasi kanth Over a year ago

Both approaches, including the file, and using the library (as pointed by RobertPitt) work well. I did not try the adapter approach though. Thanks for the answers.

Justin Martin Over a year ago

One should make use of the include_once and require_once functions, instead of only include or require. The include or require functions are for where you intend to use the code multiple times, in multiple places. include_once and require_once allow you to include the files only if they've not been included before. This prevents trying to re-define the same classes multiple times.

Gordon Over a year ago

@FrozenFire not necessarily as *_once is potentially slower due to it having to check whether the file was already included or not. If you know this is the only call to that particular file, there is no need to include_once. µ-optimization though.

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